TRANSPORT

Bus Services: Disability

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of new buses in the UK outside London are fitted with audio visual announcements.

Stephen Hammond: According to figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) on 7 January 2014, 2,842 new buses were registered in the UK in 2013, along with 843 coaches.
	Although we do not hold specific data from each bus operator on the number or percentage of new buses using audio/visual systems outside London, we are currently examining whether this information can be gathered as part of the Department's next annual bus operator survey, due to be published in the autumn.
	Research commissioned by the Department for Transport estimates that in 2012 there were 8,877 buses operating in England that offered audio announcements on the destination of the bus and the next stop, compared with 8,812 buses in 2011. This amounts to approximately 25% of all buses in England.

Driving: Licensing

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of (a) the cost of establishing the system to enable driving records to be accessed online by drivers and the insurance industry and (b) the annual cost of running that system.

Stephen Hammond: The development cost of establishing the system to enable driving records to be accessed online by drivers and the insurance industry is expected to be around £8.8 million. The estimated annual cost for support and maintenance is £2 million, excluding VAT.

East Coast Railway Line

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has any plans to reduce the number of trains per hour on the East Coast Main Line from London to Newcastle following the opening of High Speed 2.

Stephen Hammond: It is too early to set the service pattern for the GB rail network in the 2020s and beyond. However, one of the key principles that will guide future service patterns is that all towns or cities which currently have a direct service to London will retain broadly comparable or better services once HS2 is complete. The future design, calling pattern and frequency of network services once HS2 opens will be developed openly, and in partnership.

East Coast Railway Line

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the potential effects of High Speed 2 on the frequency of trains on the East Coast Main Line from London to Newcastle.

Stephen Hammond: This assessment will be made as different service options for the post-HS2 railway are developed. A wide range of potential service options are open, ranging from relatively evolutionary change to widespread service redesign. These issues were outlined in the Network Rail report ‘Better Connections’, published in July 2013, and available on its website:
	http://www.networkrail.co.uk/improvements/high-speed-rail/
	The Department is working with Network Rail to design the next stage of the service planning work for rail services once HS2 phase 1 opens, and looking ahead to phase 2. The Department will make further announcements shortly.

First Great Western

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much of the joint investment between his Department and First Great Western to fund additional standard class capacity and a refresh of first class is provided by his Department.

Stephen Hammond: At this stage, the amounts involved are commercially confidential, as private sector contractors are involved in undertaking the work on behalf of First Great Western. However, the basis on which the allocations have been made is equitable and reflects among other things the need for the public sector contribution to achieve value for money and to secure the rail investment strategy imperative of improved standard class capacity on the Great Western route. The information about the amount borne by the Department to fund the standard class reseating in this joint investment will be provided once the works are completed.

First TransPennine Express

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy that the new TransPennine Express franchise due to begin in 2015 maintains hourly direct services between Hull and Manchester.

Stephen Hammond: The new directly awarded franchise for TransPennine that begins in April 2015 will aim to provide train services at the same level as is currently available to passengers today until the start of the new completed franchise, expected in February 2016.

Goring and Streatley Station

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when lifts will be installed at Goring and Streatley station; and whether this will coincide with the replacement of the footbridge.

Stephen Hammond: Network Rail has submitted Goring and Streatley as a candidate station for Access for All funding. The Government plan to make an announcement on funding in April. In the meantime, Network Rail has advised me that the new footbridge which will be installed in the summer will be suitable for the installation of lifts.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what evaluation his Department has made of the costs and benefits of linking the proposed phase two of High Speed 2 to the west coast main line at Crewe instead of at Golborne junction.

Robert Goodwill: The strategic case for HS2 published on 29 October 2013 sets out the business case for proceeding with HS2. It shows that the Y-shaped network including the connections to the west coast main line at both Crewe and Golborne is expected to deliver around £2.30 of benefits (including wider economic impacts) for every £1 spent. The Department has not estimated the case for the Y-shaped route for High Speed 2 without these connections. However, HS2 Ltd examined the possibility of only linking High Speed 2 to the west coast main line at Crewe, and eliminating the junction at Golborne. It identified significant constraints in the west coast main line north of Crewe and additional works would be required here as the line is intensively used by fast long-distance services, slower stopping trains and freight, causing significant timetabling constraints. Taking into account the levels of growth being experienced to date, both in terms of passenger and freight traffic, the west coast main line would not be able to cope with the overall volume of services required. Therefore the section of line between Winterbottom and Bamfurlong culminating in the Golborne connection is likely to offer very high value for money when compared with the alternative connection at Crewe and associated WCML modification work.

Liverpool Street - Harlow Railway Line

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the punctuality levels of train services between Harlow Town train station and London Liverpool Street station have been over the last 10 years.

Stephen Hammond: The Department does not hold such information to the level required. We do not routinely measure punctuality (or any other performance measure) by individual line or route; it is the franchise as a whole we measure.

Motorways: Repairs and Maintenance

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2014, Official Report, column 456W, on motorways: repairs and maintenance, what the reasons are for the discrepancy between the figures of eight deaths in the preceding three years and 1,747 injuries in the preceding 12 months of people repairing motorways stated by the Highways Agency in a press release dated 21 October 2013.

Robert Goodwill: The figures quoted are based upon different data selection criteria and from different time periods. The answer of 27 February 2014, Official Report, column 456W, (motorways: repairs and maintenance) is the number of people repairing motorways killed or injured by vehicles in 2012 and 2013. The Highways Agency press release of 21 October 2013 referred to the number of road workers killed and injured while improving and maintaining the strategic road network in England, irrespective of the causation or duties being undertaken. The eight road workers killed occurred between 2009 and 2013 and the figure of 1,747 quoted in the same press release included a large volume of near misses, hazards and damage to plant and equipment where no injuries had been sustained.

Nurseries

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department's executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Stephen Hammond: Across the Department (which includes its executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies) there are two workplace nurseries which are available to staff. These are operated by a third party. One of the nurseries available to staff is based in Swansea. The other workplace nursery is available to staff based in Hastings and is open to several Government Departments. Both nurseries were operating in 2010 and 2013-14. There are no plans for the nurseries to cease operating in 2014-15.

Railway Stations: Access

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding will be made available to the Access for All scheme in control period 5; and what terms and conditions will apply to such funding.

Stephen Hammond: £100 million has been allocated to extend the Access for All programme for control period 5. Stations will be selected based on their annual footfall, weighted by the incidence of disability in the area. The preferences of the train operators and the availability of third party funding or other capital contributions will also be considered.

Railways: Chester

Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to the report of the Commission on Devolution in Wales published on 3 March 2014, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Wales on the potential implications for (a) rail services in Chester and (b) Chester railway station of the recommendation in that report to devolve the Wales and Borders rail franchise to the National Assembly for Wales.

Stephen Hammond: No discussions have taken place with the Secretary of State for Wales, my right hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd West (Mr Jones) on further devolution of responsibilities for the Wales and Border franchise and its implications for the division of responsibilities between the two Governments for rail services calling at, and the management of, Chester station.

Railways: Fares

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average change in rail fares was between Chelmsford and London in each of the last five years.

Stephen Hammond: The Office of Rail Regulation publishes information on average changes in rail fares by sector and ticket category on its website:
	http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/7cff3127-a5cc-4173-ac78-016db2339811
	However, I am able to provide information on the change in costs of an annual season ticket from Chelmsford to London terminals over the last five years, as follows:
	
		
			 Annual season ticket from Chelmsford to London terminals 
			  £ Percentage change from previous year 
			 2010 3,120 — 
			 2011 3,260 4.5 
			 2012 3,420 4.9 
			 2013 3,540 3.5 
			 2014 3,640 2.8

Railways: North West

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for how many days the (a) Colne to Blackpool South and (b) Skipton to Leeds lines were closed in each of the last five years.

Stephen Hammond: This is not information held by the Department for Transport. This is a matter for Network Rail, who owns and operates Britain's rail network.

Railways: Tickets

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the Government have spent on the South East Flexible Ticketing scheme in each year since 2010.

Stephen Hammond: The following sums have been spent on the South East Flexible Ticketing programme to date:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2010 0 
			 2011 0 
			 2012 590,310 
			 2013 5,667,057 
			 20141 2,328,528 
			 1 To date.

Railways: Tickets

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether there are currently any regulatory restrictions preventing train operators from operating part-time rail season tickets.

Stephen Hammond: Rail fares are set according to relevant procedures set out in the ticketing and settlement agreement (‘TSA’), an inter-operator agreement to which the Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin), is not a party but over which he has change control in certain areas. The TSA is available at the following weblink:
	http://www.atoc.org/about-atoc/rail-settlement-plan/governance/

Railways: Tickets

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  when the pilot project for part-time rail season tickets will start;
	(2)  on what date the competition inviting train operators to submit a pilot project for flexible ticketing will start; and whether that competition will include services on the Waterloo to Weymouth line.

Stephen Hammond: The competition for the trial on flexible and part-time ticketing is currently scheduled to commence later in 2014. All train operators that are signatories to the South East Flexible Ticketing scheme, including South West Trains, which operates the Waterloo to Weymouth line, will be invited to take part in the competition. We expect to announce a winning bidder in sufficient time to commence the trial in January 2015. The trial is expected to last for a year.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  which local authorities receive what proportion of the £140 million to fix roads damaged by flooding and adverse weather announced on 9 March 2014;
	(2)  pursuant to the financial statement of 19 March 2014, what the breakdown is of the £200 million funding for potholes schemes; and whether that £200 million includes the £140 million to fix roads damaged by flooding and adverse weather announced by the Secretary of State for Transport on 9 March 2014.

Robert Goodwill: The funding allocations from the £140 million announced on 9 March to help repair roads damaged by the severe wet weather were announced on 20 March 2013. This includes a further £33.5 million announced earlier this year as part of the transport element of the severe weather recovery fund. A table which provides information on the funding we will be paying to local highway authorities by end March 2014 is available at the following weblink:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/294497/extra-funding-to-repair-roads.csv/preview
	The £200 million for a Pothole Fund announced in the Budget on 19 March 2014 is new money and in addition to the £140 million funding. From the £200 million, £168 million be made available to councils in England through a bidding exercise. Further details on the fund will be made available in the coming weeks.

Rolling Stock: First TransPennine Express

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he has taken to ensure provision of adequate rolling stock to serve the Hull-Manchester train route from April 2015.

Stephen Hammond: The Department is working with train operators and the rolling stock companies to ensure that adequate rolling stock is available to provide continued levels of service to passengers on the route.

PRIME MINISTER

Iraq Committee of Inquiry

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2013, Official Report, column 503W, on Iraq Committee of Inquiry, what the reasons are for the time taken to conclude the Government's response to the disclosure requests; when consideration of the final sets of papers will be concluded; and if he will make a statement.

David Cameron: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave to the hon. Member on 2 December 2013, Official Report, column 503W.

WALES

Free School Meals: Gwent

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proportion of pupils at each (a) primary and (b) secondary school in Islwyn constituency is eligible for free school meals.

David Jones: This information relates to a devolved matter and is not held by the UK Government. I have therefore written to the Minister for Education and Skills in the Welsh Government seeking the information requested.
	I will write to the hon. Member when further information is received, and place a copy in the Library of the House.

Nurseries

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in his Department in (a) 2010, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15.

Stephen Crabb: I refer the hon. Lady to my answer to the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson), of 3 March 2014, Official Report, column 697W.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Armed Forces: Cadets

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many young people from Northern Ireland have joined the (a) Army cadets, (b) RAF cadets and (c) Royal Navy cadets in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.
	The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Financial year Navy Army Air 
			 2009-10 223 951 219 
			 2010-11 243 1,098 276 
			 2011-12 232 1,259 225 
			 2012-13 189 1,155 246 
			 2013-14 175 917 191 
		
	
	These figures include number of cadets in both the community cadet forces (i.e. Sea Cadet Corps, Army Cadet Force and Air Training Corps) and in Combined Cadet Force (CCF) units in Northern Ireland schools.

Immunity from Prosecution

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether her Department is aware of any undertakings of (a) amnesty, (b) immunity and (c) implied immunity from prosecution given to any (i) former or serving members of the security forces, (ii) person who has acted as an agent of the security forces or Government intelligence services and (iii) member of a paramilitary organisation.

Theresa Villiers: I am not aware of any such undertakings. Responsibility for the prosecution of individuals rests with the police and the prosecuting authorities.

Post Office Card Account

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on increasing the use of Post Office card accounts for the payment of welfare benefits in Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement.

Theresa Villiers: I have had no discussions on this matter nor have I been asked by any Northern Ireland Executive Ministers to raise this with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable) who has responsibility for the Post Office. I am due to meet the Minister for Social Development and will take that opportunity to discuss this with him.

TREASURY

Air Passenger Duty

Andrew Percy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of multi-ticketing on the revenue accruing to the Exchequer from air passenger duty in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Nicky Morgan: Budget 2014 announced the reform of air passenger duty with the abolition of bands C and D from 1 April 2015. This will eliminate the two highest rates of APD charged on flights to countries over 4,000 miles from Britain, cutting tax for millions of passengers travelling to China, India, Brazil and many other emerging markets. This will mean that flights to South Asia and the Caribbean will pay tax at the lower band B rate.
	Air passenger duty is calculated on a passenger's final destination. The liability of a journey from the UK will be the same whether the journey is made by using a single, direct flight from the UK, or by using two or more connected flights through foreign hub airports.
	A journey using separate unconnected tickets has practical and financial implications including no protection on the cost of missed connections. Data are not held on the number of UK passenger journeys to foreign hub airports that may be part of a longer journey using unconnected tickets.

Alcoholic Drinks

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what meetings his Department has had with (a) pub companies, (b) the British Beer and Pub Association, (c) members of the British Beer and Pub Association, (d) Independent Family Brewers of Britain and (e) members of Independent Family Brewers of Britain.

Nicky Morgan: Treasury Ministers and officials routinely meet a wide range of stakeholders as part of the policy development process. Details of ministerial and Permanent Secretary meetings with external organisations are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

Buildings

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the office space owned or leased by his Department is not in regular use; what the total (a) rental and (b) retail value is of all such unused office space; and if he will place in the Library a copy of his most recent departmental real estate valuation.

Nicky Morgan: Holdings of real estate are assessed as either being required to deliver departmental functions (forming the Core estate) or surplus to this requirement (non-Core). There is no system for classifying frequency of use. The Government’s top priority for surplus holdings is to reduce property costs by exiting leasehold agreements, selling freeholds or by sub-letting to external tenants. The Government have now created a portal—Find Me Some Government Space at:
	https://www.gov.uk/find-government-property
	for more efficient marketing of surplus land and buildings. This is searchable by developers, community groups and the general public.
	It is considered not to be in the public interest to disclose real estate valuation reports, as this information can be commercially sensitive and any disclosure could adversely affect the Government’s future ability to negotiate efficiencies and achieve value for money to the taxpayer. However, the value of HM Treasury’s land and buildings is available in its annual report and accounts, which is accessible on:
	www.gov.uk

Children: Day Care

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of future child care costs after 2015-16.

Nicky Morgan: Information on how future child care costs have been estimated can be found in the Budget 2014 policy costings document:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/293740/PU1638_policy_costings _budget_2014.pdf

Children: Day Care

Lucy Powell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the qualifying criteria for the tax free child care scheme are.

Nicky Morgan: Information on the eligibility criteria for tax-free child care can be found in the consultation response document:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/293084/PU1607_Tax_free_Childcare _response.pdf

Excise Duties: Fuels

David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the economic effect of (a) a rise in fuel duty, (b) freezing fuel duty, (c) cutting fuel duty by 3 pence or more in 2014-15;
	(2)  what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the (i) economic effects and (ii) effects on the average motorist of (A) a freeze in fuel duty and (B) a reduction in fuel duty by 3 pence or more;
	(3)  if he will make it his policy to commit to a real terms cut in fuel duty in 2014-15;
	(4)  what estimate he has made of the change in employment levels of (a) a freeze in fuel duty and (b) a reduction in fuel duty by 3 pence or more in the final year of this Parliament;
	(5)  when he next plans to meet members of FairFuelUK to discuss (a) a freeze in fuel duty and (b) a reduction in fuel duty by 3 pence or more.

Nicky Morgan: Since 2011, the Government have taken action on fuel duty to support both households and businesses. At autumn statement 2013 the Government cancelled the increase that was planned for September 2014, freezing fuel duty for the remainder of Parliament. As a result of this Government's action, the real terms rate of fuel duty is forecast to fall by 8p per litre over the Parliament. A typical motorist will save £680 in total by 2015-16, compared with the previous Government's plans.
	All fuel duty cuts and freezes since Budget 2011 have had to be fully funded through tax rises or spending cuts elsewhere. The impact of any reductions will need to be considered in the context of the wider public finances.
	The actions this Government have taken on tax, spending and welfare reform have reduced the deficit, protected the economy, restored and maintained stability. The Government regularly meet a range of stakeholders on fuel duty.

Excise Duties: Fuels

Louise Ellman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reason it is his policy to apply varying taxation rates to different road fuel gases.

Nicky Morgan: The Government have maintained the fuel duty differential between the main rate of fuel duty and alternative road fuels until 2024. The liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) differential reduces by 1 penny per litre (ppl) per year, which is a continuation of the approach set out by the previous Administration. This follows their recommendation in the 2003 Alternative Fuels Framework, reflecting the greater natural environmental damage caused by LPG compared with other road fuel gases.
	However, as this Government have frozen fuel duty until the end of Parliament, the LPG differential also remains frozen, and is not currently closing by 1 ppl per year. The Government will review the taxation of all road fuel gases in 2018, along with vehicle take up and the impact of the differential on the public finances.

Fixed Interest Securities: Pensioners

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the current (a) one and (b) three-year yield is on a gilt; and what the (i) one and (ii) three-year yield will be on the proposed fixed rate savings bonds for pensioners

Sajid Javid: At close of business on Thursday 20 March 2014, the one-year gilt yield was 0.40%, and the three-year gilt yield was 1.05%, as reported by Bloomberg. Yields on the National Savings and Investments (NS&I) bonds will be equal to their interest rates, which will be finalised at autumn statement to take account of prevailing market conditions. However, as set out in the Budget Red Book our central assumption is that the one-year bond would pay 2.8% gross/annual equivalent rate (AER) and the three-year bond 4% gross/AER, subject to tax.

Flood Control

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will review the Green Book in regard to flood defence investment; and if he will make a statement.

Danny Alexander: The Treasury Green Book provides a technical guide to the appraisal of all public spending proposals. The Government do not intend to review it as a result of the recent floods because it makes no provision specific to flood defence investment. However, the Government do keep the Green Book methodology under regular review to ensure it continues to set out best practice for all project appraisal.

Income Tax

David Ruffley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effects on revenues of (a) changes in the top rate of tax and (b) a reduction in the top rate from 45p to (i) 44p, (ii) 43p, (iii) 42p, (iv) 41p and (v) 40p.

David Gauke: The forecast Exchequer revenue effect of a change in the top rate of income tax from 45 pence to (a) 44 pence (b) 43 pence (c) 42 pence (d) 41 pence and (e) 40 pence is detailed as follows:
	
		
			 2014-15 Exchequer effect 
			  £ million 
			 44 pence -150 
			 43 pence -300 
			 42 pence -500 
			 41 pence -700 
			 40 pence -950 
		
	
	These estimates are based on the latest available SPI (Survey of Personal Incomes, 2011-12) and have been forecast in line with Budget 2014 economic assumptions.
	Substantial behavioural responses are associated with changes in top marginal tax rates. The HMRC report, “The Exchequer effect of the 50% additional rate of income tax”, outlines these behavioural responses in greater detail. The report is published and available at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/excheq-income-tax-2042.pdf

Individual Savings Accounts

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of the removal of the distinction between a cash ISA and a stocks and shares ISA on (a) the behaviour of investors and (b) investment in capital markets.

David Gauke: From 1 July 2014, the overall annual new ISA subscription limit will be increased to £15,000 and can be used for either cash or stocks and shares investments, or any combination of the two, up to this limit. However, there are no plans to remove the distinct definitions of cash ISAs and stocks and shares ISAs, though the list of qualifying investments for the latter will be amended as set out in Budget 2014.
	These measures will reduce income tax on savings for people constrained by the current ISA limits, improving incentives to save and increasing real household disposable incomes. Over 5 million adults currently fully subscribe to the cash ISA limit, and so are expected to benefit from the equalisation of the cash and overall ISA subscription limits. Three-quarters of these people are basic rate taxpayers and a third are pensioners. A further 1.3 million people subscribe to the overall ISA limit, which is currently £11,520.
	As HMRC’s published tax information and impact note explains, the increase to real household disposable incomes resulting from the new ISA changes might feed through to higher consumption or savings in the household sector. There may also be a shift in the savings portfolio composition towards cash deposits.

New Businesses: Government Assistance

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has made an assessment of the benefits and disbenefits of extending the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme to the charity and social enterprise sector.

David Gauke: The Government is introducing the social investment tax relief from April 2014. It extends the venture capital tax breaks to investment in social enterprises.
	The new scheme is based on the enterprise investment scheme and will apply to significantly larger organisations than qualify for the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), announced at Budget that the rate of income tax relief will be 30%. The relief is the first of its kind in the world.

Non-domestic Rates

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the ministerial statement of 13 February 2014, Official Report, column 66WS, on business rates administration review, if he will undertake a programme of research into the merits of replacing business rates in England with a land value tax; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: The Government’s review of business rates administration after 2017 aims to identify improvements to the business rate system
	“consistent with the principle that business rates are based on rental property values”.
	As the Government have previously set out, they believes that the complexity and cost of administering a land value tax means that such a proposal is not tenable. The Government therefore have no intention of considering a land value tax as part of their review of business rates administration post-2017.

Nurseries

Lucy Powell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department's Executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Nicky Morgan: No estimate has been made by the Treasury or its Executive agencies of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in 2010, 2013-14 or 2014-15.

Personal Savings: Females

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to promote greater (a) knowledge of and (b) investment in ISAs and pensions among women.

David Gauke: The Money Advice Service (MAS) was set up by Government to promote understanding of the financial system and raise levels of financial capability across the UK. It offers free and impartial information and advice on money matters to all and provides advice on a range of savings products, including ISAs.
	The latest available statistics show that as of 5 April 2011, of the 24,356 adults with ISAs, 11,861 (48.7%) were female.
	On pensions, 2 million to 3 million women will be automatically enrolled into a workplace pension where they will benefit from an employer contribution and tax relief.
	The state pension reforms will benefit women who have historically done poorly under the current two-tier system. The Government expect that in the first 10 years after implementation, over 650,000 women will benefit from the single-tier valuation of their pension at 2016, receiving on average £8 a week more in state pension.

Provident Societies

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many industrial and provident societies have been registered with the Financial Services Authority or Financial Conduct Authority in each year since 2008.

Sajid Javid: The Government do not hold information on the numbers of industrial and provident societies registered. The data are held by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Revenue and Customs

Michael Crockart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff had been employed on fixed-term contracts by HM Revenue and Customs for two years or more (a) in Edinburgh and (b) the rest of the UK at the most recent date for which figures are available; and how many such staff will be made redundant in each case by 31 March 2014.

David Gauke: There are currently 50 people (40.27 full-time equivalent) employed on fixed-term contracts in Edinburgh. All of these staff have been employed for more than two years.
	There are currently 2,222 people (1,850.9 FTE) with two or more years of service employed on fixed-term contracts in the rest of the UK.
	HMRC has been in meaningful consultation with departmental trade unions and is still working to minimise any potential redundancies. The Department has offered a number of staff the opportunity to extend their contract. Discussions between HMRC staff and their managers about fixed-term contracts coming to an end are continuing, so final numbers of redundancies are not yet available.

Sand: Waste Disposal

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will put a mechanism in place to waive landfill tax for the disposal of sandbags by local authorities;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the financial effect on local authorities of landfill tax payable for the disposal of sandbags since the recent floods.

Nicky Morgan: The Treasury has not undertaken a specific assessment of the landfill tax liability to local authorities from the disposal of sandbags following the recent floods.
	Landfill tax is an environmental tax to discourage waste being sent to landfill and instead to encourage alternative forms of waste treatment such as reuse and recycling. Providing an exemption for the disposal of sandbags by local authorities would require new legislation which would take time to introduce, and add new administrative burdens for both local authorities and landfill site operators.
	However, in response to the recent flooding, the Government have taken action to support local authorities with exceptional costs by expanding the Bellwin scheme which provides financial assistance to local authorities in England incurring expenditure above a qualifying threshold in response to an emergency or disaster to safeguard lives and properties. The Government have also established a severe weather recovery scheme to contribute to costs incurred by local authorities to support their communities and repair highways and infrastructure. This scheme can help with some of the costs associated with disposal. In addition to these schemes, the Government have provided funding for local authorities to provide council tax and business rates relief as well as hardship grants for households and businesses affected by the flooding.

Social Security Benefits

Michael Crockart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking to address financial inequalities faced by parents with shared custody of their child where state benefits are paid to only one parent.

Nicky Morgan: Child benefit and tax credits provide financial support for families bringing up children. In the instance where parents are separated claimants may also qualify for the ‘lone parent’ element of tax credits.
	Payments are made to the person primarily responsible for the child. Where parents are separated child benefit and tax credit rules allow for parents to decide between themselves which of them shall be entitled to receive the payments. Where parents are unable to make a decision HMRC commissioners can make a discretionary decision.

VAT

Hywel Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the possibility of reducing VAT on local procurement; and whether he has any plans to propose such a reduction.

David Gauke: The application of VAT in the EU, including rates and flexibilities afforded to member states in this regard, is governed by EU law. The UK is only able to introduce reduced rates of VAT where there is the flexibility to do so under EU law.

VAT: Repairs and Maintenance

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will reduce VAT on repairs for those affected by flooding.

David Gauke: The Government are taking action to help families and businesses affected by the flooding. On 20 February the Prime Minister announced a package of new funding schemes to support homeowners and businesses, including a grant of up to £5,000 to provide financial support to pay for repairs which improve a property's ability to withstand future flooding. More information is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-floods-2014-government-response

HOME DEPARTMENT

Alcoholic Drinks: Prices

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what steps she is taking to introduce a ban on the sale of alcohol below the cost of duty plus VAT;
	(2)  what steps she is taking to introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol in England and Wales;
	(3)  what recent discussions she has had with the devolved Administration in Northern Ireland on a minimum unit price for alcohol.

Norman Baker: Minimum unit pricing remains a policy under active consideration but is on hold while we assess the response of industry to our alcohol strategy, which we have indicated we expect to be a positive one. In the meantime we are introducing a ban on alcohol sales below the cost of duty plus VAT from April 2014. This fulfils the coalition Government's commitment and will stop the worst cases of very cheap and harmful alcohol sales.
	Home Office Ministers have regular meetings with ministerial colleagues and others as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Asylum: Deportation

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who were previously classified as unaccompanied asylum seeking children have been forcibly returned to another country as adults in each of the last five years for which records are available.

James Brokenshire: The number of enforced removals of adults previously classified as unaccompanied asylum-seeking children for the period January 2009 to December 2013 is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Number 
			 2009 38 
			 2010 91 
			 2011 183 
			 2012 87 
			 2013 110 
			 Total 509

Daniel Morgan

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 11 March 2014, Official Report, column 182W, on Daniel Morgan, from which (a) individuals and (b) organisations documents have been received; what protocols with relevant organisations are required; and if she will place in the Library a copy of all (i) minutes and (ii) documents from the meetings of the independent panel held to date.

Damian Green: holding answer 20 March 2014
	The panel is seeking documents from those organisations mentioned in its terms of reference and other organisations and individuals which the panel considers may have relevant information to offer.
	However, the proceedings of the Daniel Morgan independent panel will remain confidential until it presents its final report to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), who will then make arrangements for the report’s publication to Parliament. The terms of reference provide that the panel will brief members of the family through the final report. This will be made available first to the family and then to the public at large. It is not envisaged that the panel will make material public until that point, but it will keep under review what policies and protocols it can make publicly available during the course of its work.

Detention Centres

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are allocated to each room in immigration detention centres.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 20 March 2014
	Rooms in immigration removal centres are generally shared by two or three occupants, although there are also single occupancy and some larger rooms, which can accommodate up to eight detainees. The largest room capacity is a 12-bed first-night unit in Dungavel, Scotland.
	In order to be used as sleeping accommodation, rooms must be certified in accordance with Detention Services Order 4/2003 by the Secretary of State, that the lighting, heating and ventilation are adequate for health. This is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/accommodation-lighting-heating-and-ventilation

Entry Clearances: Africa

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visa centres have been contracted to be delivered by Teleperformance in Africa; how many such centres are operational; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: Teleperformance Ltd has been awarded the contract covering the Africa region. This comprises 27 outsourced visa application centres. Of these, four are currently operational, with further visa application centres to become operational over the coming weeks.

Entry Clearances: India

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people applied for fast-track visas to the UK in India in 2013.

James Brokenshire: There were 81,755 applications in India in 2013 where applicants opted to use a priority service. A “same day” service was launched in India on 15 May 2013, and from that date to 31 December 2013, of the 81,755 applicants that used a priority service, 454 chose to use the “same day” service.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the change in the number of non-EU students issued visas to study at UK universities in the last five years.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 17 March 2014
	Since 2010 we have made common sense reforms to our student visa system, cutting out abuse whilst ensuring that we continue to attract talented international students to our world class universities.
	Available figures of applications for visas for study using sponsor acceptances at UK universities during the last four years (2010 to 2013) show that there has been an increase in each year, rising by 7% from 156,629 in 2012 to 167,995 in 2013 and for students sponsored by the Russell Group of universities this rose by 11%. These figures are published as part of the latest quarterly Immigration Statistics October to December 2013 in table cs 09 available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/283682/before-entry1-q4-2013-tabs.ods
	Data published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) indicate that first year non-EU students enrolling at UK higher education institutions (HEIs) increased by 36% between 2007-08 and 2012-13. These figures are available from the HESA website at:
	https://www.hesa.ac.uk/

Immigrants

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the assistance for the voluntary return and reintegration of returnees project, what the countries of origin of the 1,470 irregular migrants were; what assistance will be provided to the 30 victims of human trafficking from EU countries; how it will provide reintegration assistance to the 75 returning vulnerable migrants; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 6 March 2014
	For many illegal migrants, the UK remains a primary destination country and some of those this programme will assist might otherwise arrive in the UK.
	This project will make a positive and significant contribution to Greece’s comprehensive management of migration by facilitating the safe returns and reintegration of migrants in their countries of origin. The project will also raise awareness of the real dangers associated with illegal migration and of the advantages of returning home voluntarily, with support.
	We will keep the effectiveness of this project under review.

Immigrants

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the nature and purpose is of the Government-funded assistance for the voluntary return and reintegration of returnees project being implemented by the International Organisation for Migration in co-operation with the Greek Government; how that project will assist irregular migrants to return to their countries of origin; and how the project will help identified victims of human trafficking from EU countries.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 6 March 2014
	For many illegal migrants the UK remains a primary destination country and some of those this programme will assist might otherwise arrive in the UK.
	This project will make a positive and significant contribution to Greece's comprehensive management of migration by facilitating the safe returns and reintegration of migrants in their countries of origin. The project will also raise awareness of the real dangers associated with illegal migration and of the advantages of returning home voluntarily, with support.
	We will keep the effectiveness of this project under review.

Immigration

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the backlog was for cases supervised by the (a) permanent migration office, Liverpool, (b) temporary migration office, Sheffield and (c) older live cases unit, Liverpool in each year since 2010.

James Brokenshire: In response to parts (a) and (b), we cannot provide an answer as our reporting system does not allow historic reporting on this basis and our archived reports are not presented in such a way.
	In response to (c), the older live cases unit (OLCU) was formed in November 2012. OLCU does not have a backlog but is responsible for a defined cohort of older asylum and migration cases. The majority of these cases will have already received a negative decision against their initial application, but remain in the UK. For OLCU, the figures are:
	31 December 2012—40,538 people (asylum and migration)
	31 December 2013—34,841 people (asylum and migration).

Immigration Officers

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what rules govern the conduct of former immigration officials in respect of dealings with those still employed by the Immigration Service.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 20 March 2014
	In common with all civil servants, the conduct of former immigration officials are bound by the business appointment rules for civil servants. These are in the public domain and are published at:
	http://acoba.independent.gov.uk/media/25653/business%20 appointment%20rules%20for%20civil%20servants%20feb%202011. pdf
	These rules apply to all serving civil servants and to former civil servants for two years after their last day of paid service.

National Security

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make it her policy to regularly review directions given under section 94 of the Telecommunications Act 1984.

James Brokenshire: The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) keeps national security policies and decisions under review.

Organised Crime

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the National Crime Agency has taken to liaise with its counterparts in the Irish Republic over steps to prevent further gangland-type killings and shootings.

Karen Bradley: The Common Travel Area (CTA) between the UK, Ireland and the Crown Dependencies and the free movement of goods within the EU mean that close liaison and co-operation between UK and Irish law enforcement partners against serious and organised crime is both vital and valued by both sides. The NCA has dedicated resources currently working with Irish law enforcement agencies to tackle the threat from organised crime that affects both our countries.

Poaching: North West

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of illegal taking of game have been recorded in (a) the North West and (b) Lancashire in each of the last three years.

Norman Baker: The Home Office does not hold this information centrally.
	Police recorded crime statistics, consisting of indictable and triable-either-way offences do not include summary offences, such as taking of game.

UN Commission On the Status of Women

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress she has made in implementing the commitments in the outcome document of the Commission on the Status of Women in 2013; and if she will make a statement.

Norman Baker: Eliminating and preventing violence against women and girls was the priority theme for the Commission on the Status of Women in 2013. The coalition Government is committed to fulfilling our obligations to tackle such violence both in the UK and overseas. An update version of the cross-Government Action Plan, “A Call to End Violence against Women and Girls” was published on 8 March and incorporates key recommendations from the “Agreed Conclusions”.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Access to Work Programme

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the advantages to deaf people of funding a team of interpreters through the Access to Work scheme rather than being assigned a single interpreter by their employer.

Michael Penning: We have not made any assessment of the advantages to deaf people of funding a team of interpreters through the Access to Work scheme. We appreciate that each situation is unique and may require a bespoke solution.

Access to Work Programme

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how the maximum grants for funding support workers under the Access to Work scheme were determined.

Michael Penning: There is no maximum grant level set for the funding of support workers under the Access to Work programme. Our aim is to use the programme budget to assist the maximum possible number of disabled workers across all industry sectors.

Access to Work Programme

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which organisations for deaf people his Department consulted before the Access to Work guidance on support workers was amended.

Michael Penning: There have been no recent amendments to Access to Work guidance on support workers.

Children: Day Care

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the distributional effect of raising the proportion of childcare costs covered by universal credit to 85 per cent within the existing budget.

Steve Webb: Work remains the best route out of poverty, and child care costs represent a significant barrier to families trying to take the first steps into work or work up to full-time hours.
	The Government and many of our stakeholders have concluded that funding an increase in child care support up to 85% provides a sufficient improvement in the financial reward and work incentive for families under universal credit. It will see around 500,000 working families get more out of the money they earn, helping more families move into employment and thus supporting our goal to end poverty in a sustainable way.
	We will shortly be publishing a response to the consultation on the rate of child care paid under universal credit, which will include more detailed information on the effects of increasing the rate to 85% for all families.
	The distributional effects of universal credit to be published at the next autumn statement, will include any changes to the child care element of universal credit.

Disability Living Allowance

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of disability living allowance claims took longer than 40 days to process in each of the last three years for which data are available.

Michael Penning: The following table shows the percentage of disability living allowance (DLA) new claims, for normal rules (NR), that took longer than 40 days to process. Claims not yet processed within 40 days, include cases where we are awaiting additional information from the claimant and/or medical evidence.
	
		
			 2012-13 
			  Number/percentage 
			 Volume of claims cleared (Number) 402,861 
			 Volume of claims cleared after 40 working days (Number) 89,678 
			 Percentage of DLA new claims (NR) cleared after 40 working days 22.3 
		
	
	Prior to 2012-13, the measure reported against was an actual average clearance time (AACT). This is the cumulative clearance days divided by the number of cleared events within the reporting period.
	The following table shows information for 2010-11 and 2011-12.
	
		
			  2010-11 2011-12 
			 Volume of claims cleared 431,572 412,556 
			 AACT (level 37.7 days) 30.3 27.2 
			 Notes: 1. The reported figure only relates to DLA (NR) new claims. NR claims are those where the claimant is not terminally ill and the normal rules of entitlement therefore apply. 2. The figures above cover the period from 1 April to 31 March and shows the national position including working age and child claimants. 3. The AACT level (37.7 days) shown in the table is a measure based on a prior year’s performance. 4. We have not provided data for 2013-14 due to not having a full financial year available at this time. Source: Department for Work and Pensions—RDA 80123 report—DLA Management Information Statistics.

Employment and Support Allowance

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to ensure that the support available on Saturdays for people appealing against the refusal of employment and support allowance is equivalent to that available on other days.

Shailesh Vara: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.
	The first-tier tribunal (social security and child support), administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service, hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions decisions on a range of benefits, including employment and support allowance. The tribunal is designed to hear appeals from individuals without the need for support from advocates.
	The panel that hears the appeal, which will comprise experts such as judges, doctors, translators, and mental health experts, will guide the appellant through the appeal process. An appeal is inquisitorial rather than adversarial in nature. Appellants may engage advocates to help in preparing for or attending an appeal, but this is a matter entirely for the individual.
	Appellants are asked before their case is listed if there are any days of the week, from Monday to Saturday, when they would be unable to attend a hearing. If Saturday is not convenient they can say so. Hearings which are held on a Saturday proceed exactly as they would on a weekday.
	If an appellant has engaged an advocate but the advocate is not available to attend the scheduled hearing the matter will be put to a judge as to whether the hearing should be re-listed.

Employment and Support Allowance

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time taken from an application for reconsideration of an employment and support allowance decision to a decision being made on the case was in each month since October 2013.

Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what the average length of time taken to complete the employment and support allowance mandatory reconsideration process was in (a) 2012 and (b) 2013;
	(2)  what the longest time taken was for an employment and support allowance mandatory reconsideration process in (a) 2012 and (b) 2013.

Michael Penning: Mandatory reconsideration was introduced for employment and support allowance for decisions notified from 28 October 2013. The Department is collecting information to understand how it is operating from the point of its introduction, including the time taken from an application for reconsideration of an ESA decision to a decision being made on the case.
	At present, these data are not sufficiently robust and reliable to make available.

Employment Schemes: Young People

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many businesses in (a) the UK and (b) Brigg and Goole constituency have taken part in wage incentive schemes since the introduction of the Youth Contract.

Esther McVey: Data on the number of employers receiving wage incentives are not available. The latest statistics on Youth Contract wage incentives, released on 25 February 2014 are available here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/youth-contract-official-statistics-february-2014

Flexible Support Fund

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants working less than 16 hours per week have received help in each year from the flexible support fund to cover child care expenses, (child care subsidy), in each year since its inception; and how much the Government have spent on such support in each such year.

Esther McVey: The information requested cannot be supplied without incurring disproportionate costs.

Flexible Support Fund

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants have received help from the flexible support fund to cover child care expenses for up to five days in the seven days immediately before starting working in each year since the fund's inception; and how much the Government have spent on such support in each such year.

Esther McVey: The information requested cannot be supplied without incurring disproportionate costs.

Housing Benefit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of housing benefit claimants in the UK in each of the last 30 years.

Steve Webb: The information requested for Great Britain is published and can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2013
	Information for Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Department for Social Development. Northern Ireland statistics can be found at:
	http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research/benefit_publications.htm

Housing Benefit: Staffordshire

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in South Staffordshire constituency under the age of 25 years old were in receipt of housing benefit in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Steve Webb: The number of people in South Staffordshire constituency under the age of 25 in receipt of housing benefit, as at November 2013 is 258.
	This information is published and can be found at:
	https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
	Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
	https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm

Housing Benefit: Yorkshire And The Humber

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on housing benefit for tenants in (a) council property, (b) housing association and registered social landlord property and (c) private sector housing in (i) Yorkshire and Humber and (ii) Brigg and Goole constituency in each year since 2009.

Steve Webb: The information is in the following tables. Housing benefit expenditure by parliamentary constituency is not available prior to 2011-12.
	
		
			 Table 1: Housing benefit spending in Yorkshire and Humber by accommodation type 
			 £ million, nominal 
			  2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Local Authority Accommodation 439.4 453.5 485.7 522.8 
			 Temporary Accommodation 10.0 7.9 7.5 8.7 
			 Registered Social Landlord 447.5 464.1 504.3 546.2 
			 Private Rented Sector 487.2 571.6 611.1 623.0 
			 Total Housing Benefit Spend 1,384.1 1,497.0 1,608.6 1,700.7 
			 Source: Local authority subsidy returns 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Housing Benefit spending in Brigg and Goole by accommodation type 
			 £ million, nominal 
			  2011-12 2012-13 
			 Local Authority Accommodation 3.3 3.7 
			 Temporary Accommodation 0.0 0.0 
			 Registered Social Landlord 7.0 7.5 
			 Private Rented Sector 8.0 8.3 
			 Total Housing Benefit Spend 18.4 19.5 
			 Notes Figures may not sum exactly due to rounding. Source: Mid-year statistical data and Local authority subsidy returns. 
		
	
	A breakdown of benefit expenditure for housing benefit can be found in the housing benefit and council tax benefit expenditure by local authority tables as per the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/277439/hb-ctb-la-tables-04022014.xls

Jobseeker’s Allowance

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what guidance his Department issues on (a) the amount of class 1 national insurance contributions an individual must have made and (b) for how long such contributions must be paid in order to be eligible for contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance; and how his Department makes such guidance available to the public;
	(2)  what the criteria are for self-employed people to be eligible for contributions-based jobseeker’s allowance.

Esther McVey: Guidance is provided in the decision makers guide. Please see link to chapter 20 for the basic conditions of entitlement (20003) and chapter 21 for the contribution-based conditions (21051 onwards).
	With limited exceptions, only class 1 (employed) contributions count towards jobseeker's allowance (JSA). This means that self-employed people who make class 2 (self-employed) contributions do not normally qualify for JSA. The exceptions are share fishermen, and volunteer development workers employed abroad. People in these categories pay a special class 2 national insurance contribution at a higher rate, which enables them to qualify for contribution-based jobseeker's allowance.

Nurseries

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department's Executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Michael Penning: There were seven workplace nurseries operated by third parties, including some provision for subsidised places, on DWP premises on 5 May 2010; all of which were still in operation on 5 February 2014.
	DWP does not directly operate any workplace nurseries. The Department is reviewing the position of all on site nursery provision, and until the review is complete, it cannot confirm whether any nursery will close.
	No information is held on Executive agencies and non-departmental bodies. There would be a disproportionate cost to source that information

Occupational Pensions

John Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to take steps to ensure that employers with employees who earn less than £10,000 per year will be legally obliged to provide those employees with an auto-enrolment pension scheme.

Steve Webb: Jobholders who earn less than the automatic enrolment earnings trigger of £10,000 and who are not eligible for automatic enrolment may opt in to pension saving. Employers are legally obliged to enrol anyone who opts into an automatic enrolment qualifying scheme and to pay the required employer contribution.

Personal Independence Payment

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the processing time target is for personal independence payment (PIP) claims; and what proportion of such claims took longer than this target time to process since the introduction of PIPs.

Michael Penning: As the hon. Member will appreciate, personal independence payment (PIP) is a new benefit and processes are currently bedding in. There are no time limits or targets on processing times to claims for PIP but we are taking the necessary action to improve the processing times.

Social Security Benefits: Brigg

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefit sanctions were issued in Brigg and Goole constituency in each of the last five years.

Esther McVey: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of benefit sanctions applied in Brigg and Goole constituency in each of the last five years 
			 October to September each year All benefit sanctions 
			 2008-09 430 
			 2009-10 800 
		
	
	
		
			 2010-11 870 
			 2011-12 1,080 
			 2012-13 1,100 
			 Notes: 1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. 2. New sanctions rules came into force for JSA and ESA from 22 October 2012 and 3 December 2012. The number of JSA sanctions applied for the new regime is the number of low, intermediate, and high level referrals where the decision was found against the claimant. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jobseekers-allowance-overview-of-sanctions-rules 3. The number of JSA sanctions applied for the old regime is the number of fixed length, varied length and entitlement decisions where the decision was found against the claimant. 4. Information on JSA and ESA sanctions is published and available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Sources: 1. (JSA and ESA): DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate: Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics Database. 2. (IS): Income Support Computer System

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefit sanctions were issued in South Staffordshire constituency in each of the last five years.

Esther McVey: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of benefit sanctions applied in South Staffordshire constituency in each of the last five years 
			 October to September each year All benefit sanctions 
			 2008-09 390 
			 2009-10 480 
			 2010-11 610 
			 2011-12 650 
			 2012-13 610 
			 Notes: 1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. 2. The number of benefit sanctions applied is the number of sanction or disallowance referrals where the decision was found against the claimant. 3. Income support lone parents receive a fixed sanction of 20% of the personal allowance rate of a single claimant (not aged less than 25) for each failure to attend/participate in a work focused interview until 10p is left in payment. This sanction lasts until the individual attends and participates in a work focused interview. In the case where there is more than one sanction in place, the claimant need only attend/participate in one work focused interview in order for all related sanctions to be removed from their benefit. 4. New sanctions rules came into force for JSA and ESA from 22 October 2012 and 3 December 2012. The number of JSA sanctions applied for the new regime is the number of low, intermediate and high level referrals where the decision was found against the claimant. Further information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jobseekers-allowance-overview-of-sanctions-rules 5. The number of JSA sanctions applied for the old regime is the number of fixed length, varied length and entitlement decisions where the decision was found against the claimant 6. Information on JSA and ESA sanctions is published and available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Source: 1. (JSA and ESA): DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate: Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics Database. 2. (IS): Income Support Computer System.

Universal Credit

Michael Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what consultation his Department has had with groups representing separated parents on steps to ensure universal credit makes shared parenting a financially viable option for parents who do not have family-based financial arrangements in place;
	(2)  how disputed child tax credits claims will be managed under the universal credit system.

Esther McVey: Currently the child element will be awarded to the parent with whom the child or qualifying young person normally lives. Where separated parents both share the care of a child or qualifying young person they are expected to jointly nominate which of them has the main responsibility.
	Where parents are unable to come to an agreement themselves, a determination will be made. This will take account of where the child normally lives and who has the main day to day responsibility.
	The proposed approach to universal credit was set out in a White Paper "Universal Credit: Welfare that Works" and in draft regulations upon which a wide range of organisations responded to in the consultation exercise carried out by the Social Security Advisory Committee.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department are working on developing the enhanced universal credit IT system.

Esther McVey: There are approximately 50 DWP staff working on the enhanced universal credit service.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects the first alternative universal credit digital service to be in use in a job centre.

Esther McVey: As part of the wider transformation of its services, the Department is developing an enhanced digital service for universal credit. As part of our commitment to testing universal credit as it develops, we expect to trial an early version of the enhanced digital service to a limited number of claimants later this year.

Vacancies: Internet

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many entries there are on the Universal Jobmatch database; and what his estimate is of the number of vacancies such entries represent;
	(2)  how many Universal Jobmatch employer accounts have been found to be in breach of its rules since the service started;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the extent of (a) fraud, (b) duplication of job entries and (c) entries for non-existent jobs in the Universal Jobmatch website;
	(4)  what his most recent assessment is of the (a) effectiveness and (b) value for money of Universal Jobmatch.

Esther McVey: Today, many jobs are only advertised on the internet. That is why we are doing everything we can to give those looking for work the skills and the opportunities to access them. Universal Jobmatch is a powerful tool for successfully connecting people to jobs, and it is delivering.
	The website launches a public service into the digital age, allowing people to search for work from their home, handheld devices, local libraries, as well as the traditional jobcentre. It allows employers to match jobseekers to their vacancies and gives our customers access to a greater number of opportunities. It puts them on an equal footing with everyone else seeking a new job in the UK. With over 6 million job searches per day, the service is clearly popular, successful, and value for money.
	At 18 March 2014, there were 507,474 vacancies on the service.
	All internet job sites face the issue of duplicate vacancies. We take this issue very seriously, and whenever we have a doubt about the validity of a job offer we will intervene, suspend the vacancy and investigate. If an employer breaches our terms and conditions we remove their right to advertise. Our continuing removal of such employers or jobs demonstrates that our system of checks works.
	Since Universal Jobmatch was launched in November 2012, we have removed 1,216 employer accounts that did not comply with our terms and conditions. That figure is equivalent to 0.2% of the total number of registered employer accounts.
	Universal Jobmatch has revolutionised the way we deliver the public employment service. With over 6,000,000 job searches per day at a cost of far less than 1p each, it represents excellent value for money.

Work Capability Assessment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2014, Official Report, column 638W, on the work capability assessment, if he will make it his policy to collect such information in future.

Michael Penning: To provide the requested information would incur disproportionate cost.

Work Capability Assessment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 9 January 2014, Official Report, column 280W, on the work capability assessment, how many and what proportion of those who have undertaken a work capability test in each nation and region of the UK have been declared fit for work.

Michael Penning: Employment and support allowance (ESA) initial claims and incapacity benefit (IB) reassessment claims, by outcomes of work capability assessments by regions in Great Britain are published. The numbers and the proportion of fit-for-work decisions can be found in table 1a and table 11 at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/274091/esa_wca_140122.xls
	Notes:
	1. There is a reporting lag of approximately 8-months at the issuing date of this statistical output owing to the time needed to process data and time allowed to enable each cohort's assessment phase to elapse.
	2. Case load figures rounded to nearest hundred. Totals may not sum due to the rounding method use. Proportions are rounded to the nearest whole number.
	3. Figures include those cases where the functional assessment has not been completed.
	Information for Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Department for Social Development Northern Ireland. Statistics can be found at:
	http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research/benefit_publications.htm

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on what information his Department draws in evaluating the performance of Work programme prime providers in addition to published outcome data.

Esther McVey: In addition to the published outcome data, the Department has put in place a programme of surveys and qualitative research to evaluate the performance and delivery of Work programme providers.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Air Pollution

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he intends to publish a summary of the submissions to the consultation on the Clean Air Act 1993; and what his response is to that consultation.

Dan Rogerson: The responses to the call for Evidence conducted to inform the review of the Clean Air Act 1993 are currently being compiled and analysed. A summary of the responses and Government reply will be published shortly.

Animal Welfare: Sentencing

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of sentencing for crimes involving the abuse of animals.

Dan Rogerson: The Animal Welfare Act 2006 was reviewed in 2010 and there was no recommendation to increase the maximum penalties for animal cruelty or that sentencing by the courts needed to be reviewed separately.

Energy: Conservation

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the proportion of retail products in the UK which are compliant with EU energy efficiency standards.

Dan Rogerson: In 2009, DEFRA appointed the National Measurement Office (NMO) to assess compliance with product-specific regulations made under the ecodesign for energy-related products directive (2009/125/EC). The NMO operates a risk-based and intelligence-led approach to compliance. Each year it checks compliance of several product types, focusing on those most likely to fail to meet requirements. Since the NMO started its work, the detected levels of compliance have increased in all areas of its work. Where the work has revealed non-compliance, the NMO has worked with manufacturers to make the necessary changes.

Environment Agency

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cases being investigated for enforcement action or issued and proceeding in the courts have (a) been discontinued completely, (b) been enforced using a lower level of action and (c) ceased to be investigated in each geographic area of the Environment Agency since 26 February 2014.

Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency tracks the number of cases at different stages in the enforcement process but cannot readily extract the changes to those case numbers over such a recent period.

Environment Agency

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps each area of the Environment Agency is taking to reduce its enforcement and legal caseload by 31 March 2014; and by how many and what proportion of existing cases each area plans to reduce its caseload.

Dan Rogerson: Each area of the Environment Agency is currently reviewing existing work loads against enforcement priorities and available budgets. No decisions will be made until the review is complete.

Fisheries

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will bring forward proposals to improve information available to consumers of fish on the method of fishing used.

George Eustice: New labelling requirements are due to be introduced from December 2014, which will provide consumers with information on the type of fishing gear used. In addition, EU Fish Labelling Regulations already require that the method of production of fish (farmed, caught at sea or caught in inland water) is shown for fresh, chilled, or frozen fish fillets and other fish meat and smoked, dried, salted or brined fish.

Flood Control

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2014, Official Report, column 552W, on forests, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness in reducing flood risk of (a) the slowing the flow project in North Yorkshire and the (b) Forestry Commission projects in the catchments of the (i) River Parrett in Somerset and (ii) River Irthing in Northumberland.

Dan Rogerson: The Forestry Commission, through its research agency, Forest Research, is continuing to monitor the effects of forests on flood flows in the cited projects.
	Observations in the slowing the flow project show the forest measures to be working as expected, but the data records are too short to confirm any reduction in flood risk at Pickering.
	The small scale of forest planting and short length of flow record at the study sites in the River Parrett catchment make it difficult to detect an impact on flood flows, but the data are being used to improve flood models.
	The River Irthing project is a long-term study of the impact of conifer afforestation on water flows within the Coalburn headwater catchment. Monitoring began in 1967 and assessments have been made of the effects of tree planting and growth on flood flows at various intervals since. The last was in 2003. A further evaluation is underway and is due to report in the summer.

Flood Control

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2014, Official Report, column 552W, on forests, if he will make it his policy to record these projects centrally.

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA has no plans to centralise the recording of the performance of specific flood management measures, such as forestry, water storage or hard defences, which could only be meaningfully evaluated on a case- by-case basis.

Flood Control

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much of the additional £140 million for flood defences over 2014-15 and 2015-16 announced in the Budget 2014 will be added to his Department's baseline for future years.

Dan Rogerson: The additional £140 million for flood defences announced in the Budget 2014 is to support the repair and maintenance of flood and coastal defences following the exceptional recent flood events of the last few months. Decisions about funding beyond 2015-16 will be made at future spending reviews.

Flood Control

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much of the £140 million for flood defences over 2014-15 and 2015-16 announced in the Budget 2014 to repair and maintain flood defences is in addition to the previously announced £100 million additional flood defence funding for 2014-15.

Dan Rogerson: The £140 million announced in the Budget 2014 for flood defences over 2014-15 and 2015-16 is all additional to the £100 million previously announced in February 2014.

Flood Control

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much of the additional £140 million for flood defences over 2014-15 and 2015-16 announced in the Budget 2014 is (a) capital and (b) revenue funding.

Dan Rogerson: £85 million is capital and £55 million is revenue.

Flood Control

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much of the additional £140 million for flood defences over 2014-15 and 2015-16 announced in the Budget 2014 is (a) partnership and (b) public funding.

Dan Rogerson: All of the £140 million additional funding for flood defences announced in the Budget 2014 is central Government funding.

Flood Control

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much of the additional £140 million for flood defences over 2014-15 and 2015-16 announced in the Budget 2014 will be available to spend in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.

Dan Rogerson: Of the £140 million announced in the Budget 2014 for flood defences, £80 million is available to spend in 2014-15 and £60 million in 2015-16.

Floods: Housing

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information his Department holds on the number of households forced to seek alternative accommodation after their homes were flooded who were referred by their insurers to the Insurance Claims Accommodation Bureau (ICAB); how many such households were found homes by ICAB; and if he will make a statement.

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA does not hold details on the number of households that have been forced to seek alternative accommodation as a result of flooding, nor those referred to the Insurance Claims Accommodation Bureau. At the first meeting of the insurance industry on flooding on 18 February, Ministers were assured that there was sufficient alternative accommodation available.

Floods: Insurance

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will monitor home insurance premiums to ensure that increases relating to risks of flooding are justified; and if he will make a statement.

Dan Rogerson: The Government are addressing the issue of excessive flood premiums through the introduction of a flood reinsurance scheme, known as Flood Re. Flood Re will effectively limit the amount that most UK households should have to pay for flood insurance to ensure that people can continue to access affordable home insurance.
	At the first monthly meeting with the insurance industry on 18 February, Ministers were assured that there was no evidence of insurers raising premiums for flood risk properties in advance of Flood Re starting in 2015.
	In addition, DEFRA will undertake and publish market monitoring research.

Fly Tipping

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to tackle the illegal dumping of commercial waste.

Dan Rogerson: The Government are taking the following action to tackle the illegal dumping of all types of waste, including commercial waste:
	(a) Prevention: We are helping to prevent fly-tipping by making it easier for businesses to dispose of their waste legally. For instance, the Waste and Resources Action Programme has produced a best practice guide to help local authorities and waste management companies set up 'bring sites' in business parks.
	(b) Cracking down on offenders: DEFRA has worked with the Sentencing Council on its new guideline for sentencing environmental offences. The guideline, published last month, should result in larger fines for serious offenders, thereby helping deter illegal dumping. The Government fully support the Environment Agency taking appropriate and timely enforcement action against illegal waste sites.
	(c) Tackling fly-tipping through partnership: We are working with the National Fly-tipping Prevention Group to provide guidance to those affected by illegal dumping. The group includes representatives from the Local Government Association, the Environment Agency and land owner and management organisations. The group is working on a Fly-Tipping Partnership Framework, which gives best practice options for the prevention, reporting, investigation and clearance of fly-tipping. This is designed to be used and adapted by local partnerships to suit the particular circumstances in their areas.

Forests

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2014, Official Report, column 552W, on forests, what records (a) his Department and (b) the Environment Agency keeps of the projects it has funded and the performance of each against its objectives.

Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency maintains national level records of the flood and coastal erosion risk management schemes funded through DEFRA flood defence capital grant in aid, which show the benefits that schemes will deliver against outcome measures agreed with DEFRA.
	Progress against these outcome measures is reported to DEFRA quarterly and a summary is published on the Environment Agency website. This does not include a breakdown of the performance of specific flood management measures, such as forestry, water storage or hard defences, which could only be meaningfully evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Mercury

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he will bring forward proposals to incorporate the Minamata Convention on Mercury into domestic law.

Dan Rogerson: The Minamata Convention on Mercury will be open for ratification from 10 October 2014. A proposal for EU legislation to facilitate ratification by member states is expected in early 2015. The Government are working in parallel with the EU process so as to be able to ratify the convention at the earliest opportunity.

Mondelez International

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the objectives were of his visit to the Mondelez factory on 13 March 2014; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: Increasing the competiveness and growth in the food and drink sector is a priority. A skilled work force can make this happen. One way is through apprenticeships.
	The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), went to the Mondelez factory to hear first-hand from apprentices and their employers about how apprenticeships can secure the best results for the apprentices, the employers and the wider economy. He also went to 'The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair in Birmingham' to understand how other companies are promoting the opportunities the sector has to offer.

Nurseries

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department's executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Dan Rogerson: There are three workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) core DEFRA and (b) the Department's executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies at the following locations:
	Core DEFRA—York;
	Food and Environment Research Agency—Sand Hutton; and
	Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency/Veterinary Medicines Directorate—Weybridge.
	All three nurseries were in operation in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and are all expected to be in operation in (iii) 2014-15.

Public Footpaths

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the needs of small landowners who have had public footpaths wrongfully placed on their property; and what steps his Department has taken to mitigate the effects of such footpaths.

Dan Rogerson: I am very much aware that small landowners can experience problems with public rights of way that pass over their land.
	All public rights of way are required to be recorded on a definitive map and statement, which is the local authority’s legal record on public rights of way. If a landowner believes that a public right of way has been wrongly recorded, then that landowner may make an application to their local authority to have the definitive map and statement modified.
	Where a landowner is unable to establish that the definitive map and statement should be modified, then it may be possible to have the right of way diverted or extinguished.
	Through clauses in the current Deregulation Bill, we are making effective legislation that provides for a statutory ‘right to apply’ for landowners. This would enable landowners to make a formal application for diversion or extinguishment of a right of way on their land and appeal to the Secretary of State should the local authority refuse the application or fail to consider it. Clause 16 of the Bill would enable the ‘right to apply’ to be extended to land use types other than agriculture, forestry and the keeping of horses, to which current legislation restricts it.
	In addition, a stakeholder working group on rights of way reforms has developed draft guidance for local authorities setting out how a presumption in favour of a landowner’s request for a diversion should operate, where a public right of way passes through a family home, working farmyard or commercial premises where privacy, safety and security are a concern.

Rivers

Mark Reckless: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs who is responsible for managing overhanging vegetation which may impede the flow of a river and increase flooding risk.

Dan Rogerson: Under common law, the person who owns the land or property next to a river or other watercourse is responsible for maintaining the bed and banks of the watercourse.

Rivers

Mark Reckless: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what enforcement powers exist in relation to overhanging vegetation impeding a river's flow; and how many times such enforcement action has taken place in the last five years.

Dan Rogerson: Overhanging vegetation is not a specific offence. The impedance of flow in a main river is covered by section 107 (3) of the Water Resources Act 1991. Impedance in itself is not an offence under the Act, but section 107 allows the Environment Agency to serve notice on the landowner to remove the impedance. Failure to comply with a notice is an offence, although there is a right of appeal.
	For ordinary watercourses, powers similar to those under section 107 of the Water Resources Act for use by both local authorities and internal drainage boards, are contained in section 25 of the Land Drainage Act 1991.
	There are also local byelaws enacted under section 210 and 211 of the Water Resources Act 1991, which give the Environment Agency powers to serve notice on landowners to “remove growth” on main river banks for the purpose of preventing obstruction to flow.
	The Environment Agency does not currently keep central records of notices served.
	The Environment Agency is in the process of introducing a case management system which will include the ability to capture electronically data relating to enforcement actions.

Rural Areas: Broadband

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 10 March 2014, Official Report, columns 77-78W, on rural areas: broadband, how much of the £15.5 million funding is for projects (a) granted, (b) under pre-contract approval and (c) still under consideration for funding.

George Eustice: The breakdown for funding to date under the rural community broadband fund is as follows:
	(a) Projects granted (contracted) total £0.459 million;
	(b) Projects with pre-contract approval total £0.646 million; and
	(c) Projects under consideration total £14.2 million.
	Until contracted, all costs are estimated and subject to revision.

Rural Areas: Broadband

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 10 March 2014, Official Report, columns 77-8W, on rural areas: broadband, whether there will be a requirement to return unspent funds from the rural community broadband fund.

George Eustice: There is no requirement to return unspent European funding under the rural community broadband fund if it can be spent elsewhere under the Rural Development Programme for England. Where possible, any remaining EU funds will be utilised elsewhere across the programme.

Sharks

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information his Department holds on how many sightings of white sharks there have been in the seas around the UK in each of the last five years.

George Eustice: Some information on shark sightings is kept by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, an Executive agency of DEFRA. We also work very closely with non-governmental organisations, such as the Shark Trust, which also keep records of possible sightings.
	There have been no confirmed sightings of white sharks in the seas around the UK.

Water Abstraction

Therese Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the monetary value is of the fund accumulated from water abstraction charges through the environmental improvement unit charge by each water region; and how much has been (a) paid from, (b) committed from this fund since its inception and (c) how much remains.

Dan Rogerson: The total value of the environmental improvement unit charge funds accumulated up to the end of the financial year 2012-13 is £56.04 million. The value of these funds for each Environment Agency region is shown in the following table.
	The Environment Agency cannot say how much it has paid in compensation because it may prejudice future negotiations.
	
		
			 EA region Environmental improvement unit charge money collected1 (£ million) 
			 Anglian 12.01 
			 Midlands 8.24 
			 North East 0.48 
			 North West 6.28 
			 South West 3.57 
			 South East—Southern 7.10 
			 South East—Thames 18.36 
			 Total 56.04 
			 1 End of financial year 2012-13.

Water Abstraction

Therese Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been raised by the licence fee and environmental improvement unit charge in each region by (a) volume and (b) amount in the last three years.

Dan Rogerson: The annual subsistence charge, which comprises the standard unit charge (SUC) and the environmental improvement unit charge (EIUC), is usually payable by everyone who holds a full licence to abstract water. The total amounts for the SUC and EIUC for each Environment Agency region collected over the last three years is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 SUC and EIUC Income 
			 £000 
			  2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 
			 Region SUC EIUC SUC EIUC SUC EIUC 
			 Anglian 23,299 3,053 24,153 4,679 23,747 2,130 
			 Midlands 19,702 2,419 19,732 4,096 19,378 0 
			 North West 9,625 1,811 9,218 3,132 8,972 4,354 
			 Northumbria 20,703 0 20,628 0 21,485 0 
			 South West 9,416 879 9,271 896 9,685 357 
			 Southern 11,013 1,831 10,642 3,010 10,564 534 
			 Thames 16,411 3,133 17,176 5,311 17,060 7,357 
			 Yorkshire 6,710 67 6,758 96 6,774 82 
			 Wales 18,417 182 18,215 276 19,014 327 
			 Total 135,296 13,375 135,793 21,496 136,679 15,141 
		
	
	Annual licensed volume is one of a number of variables used in calculating charges. Consequently it is not been possible to calculate charge income based on volume alone.

SCOTLAND

Conditions of Employment

Iain McKenzie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the extent of the use of zero-hours contracts in Scotland; and in which areas of employment such use is most prevalent.

David Mundell: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable) recently concluded a consultation on zero-hours contracts with proposals on exclusivity clauses, transparency and guidance. A summary of consultation responses will be published in due course.

Nurseries

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in his Department in (a) 2010, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office did not operate a workplace nursery in (a) 2010 or in (b) 2013-14, and has no plans to do so in (c) 2014-15.

Submarines

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what his policy is on the cost of the decommissioning and safe dismantling of the remains of the nuclear powered submarines anchored at Rosyth if Scotland votes for independence.

David Mundell: The Ministry of Defence's Submarine Dismantling Project aims to deliver a safe, secure, environmentally responsible and cost-effective solution for dismantling the UK's nuclear powered submarines, including those in afloat storage at Rosyth and Devonport dockyards.
	The UK Government's position is clear: Scotland benefits from being part of the UK and the UK benefits from having Scotland within it. We are not planning for Scottish independence and have not conducted work to consider the implications that independence would have for submarine dismantling. It is in everyone's interest for dismantling to take place as soon as possible.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Confiscation Orders

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General pursuant to the answer of 10 March 2014, Official Report, columns 125-6W, on taxation: fraud, how much of the total value of confiscation orders imposed by the Crown Prosecution Service in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13 has been recovered.

Oliver Heald: The answer of 10 March 2014, Official Report, columns 125-26W, provided the number of and value of confiscation orders obtained for cases categorised as tax and benefit fraud or VAT fraud for the past three financial years. The following table provides the amounts paid to date against those orders:
	
		
			  Number of orders granted Amount paid (£) 
			 2010-11 253 9,205,329.27 
			 2011-12 557 23,425,312.29 
			 2012-13 352 14,949,528.87 
		
	
	These data have been taken from the JARD database which reflects the status of the orders reported at the time the data are extracted. As a result, the amounts reported represent the total amounts paid up to the date at which the data were extracted.

Counterfeit Manufacturing: Money

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Attorney-General how many people have been prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service for the counterfeiting of (a) coins and (b) banknotes in each year since 2006.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the number of offences charged under section 14(1) and 22 of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 that reach a first hearing in the magistrates court, however offence based data are not held by defendant or outcome.

Crown Prosecution Service

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General pursuant to the answer of 17 December 2013, Official Report columns 545-6W, on Crown Prosecution Service, on which date the lease of each of the closed offices expired; and how much was paid by the Crown Prosecution Service in rent for each such office between closure and expiry of the lease.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) estate rationalisation programme began in 2009 and is set to be completed in 2016. The CPS is forecasting annual running cost savings of £20 million by 2016 compared to estate running costs when the programme began. The CPS has reduced annual estate running costs from £52.47 million in 2008-09 to £45.13 million in 2012-13.
	It is not unusual for an office to be vacated before lease expiry. Often a period of time is needed to decommission a building, removing IT systems, infrastructure and furniture and allowing time for any works to be carried out in accordance with dilapidations obligations.
	The following table includes details of the lease expiry, office closure dates and rent paid between lease expiry and closure or to 24 January 2014 where the lease is still live, for all properties listed in my answer of 17 December.
	
		
			 Site Office closure Lease expiry Rent paid between lease expiry and closure (£) 
			 Stratford, London 15 May 2010 5 May 2010 0 
			 Harrow 1 June 2010 3 August 2010 79,964 
		
	
	
		
			 Workington 13 June 2010 12 June 2014 95,114 
			 London, Ludgate Hill EC4 14 June 2010 30 June 2010 0 
			 Lancaster 29 October 2010 28 September 2015 184,953 
			 Leamington Spa 10 December 2010 28 September 2012 60,953 
			 Eastbourne 15 March 2011 31 March 2011 1,091 
			 Truro 27 March 2011 31 March 2011 0 
			 Birkenhead 10 April 2011 30 April 2011 0 
			 Blackpool 14 May 2011 31 May 2011 0 
			 Harrogate 1 June 2011 19 June 2011 0 
			 Wolverhampton 14 August 2011 22 August 2011 0 
			 Rochdale 14 September 2011 30 September 2011 0 
			 Northampton (Beaumont House) 14 September 2011 30 September 2011 0 
			 New Kings Beam House, London, SE1 31 October 2011 24 December2011 1,000,754 
			 Salford 20 November 2011 31 December 2011 28,214 
			 Mansfield 3 February 2012 3 February 2012 0 
			 Grimsby 14 March 2012 31 March 2012 0 
			 Aylesbury 6 July 2012 13 March 2013 47,169 
			 Swansea 5 September 2012 22 November 2012 11,468 
			 Chester 20 November 2012 23 June 2014 88,687 
			 Coventry 3 December 2012 24 December 2014 954,375 
			 Stafford 19 February 2013 16 November 2016 130,910 
			 Chichester 1 March 2013 8 March 2013 0 
			 Bradford 2 March 2013 30 September 2018 71,550 
			 Athena House, York 10 March 2013 4 February 2015 171,212 
			 Durham 27 March 2013 31 March 2015 74,428 
			 Bristol 31 March 2013 31 March 2013 0 
			 Newtown 1 April 2013 1 April 2014 24,480 
			 Warrington 5 April 2013 24 December 2016 0 
			 Northampton (Riverside House) 29 June 2013 31 July 2013 12,660 
			 York (United House) 13 October 2013 12 December 2013 0 
			 Merthyr Tydfil 31 October 2013 25 March 2015 18,000 
			 Liverpool 3 November 2013 31 December 2013 0 
			 Crosby 4 November 2013 7 May 2016 25,625 
			 Derby 8 November 2013 24 December 2013 0 
			 Cwmbran 20 November 2013 24 March 2018 36,258 
			 Bournemouth 21 November 2013 24 November 2013 122,450 
			 Luton 24 November 2013 23 June 2014 34,500 
			 Shrewsbury 15 December 2013 24 December 2013 0 
			 1 This is an overpayment which the CPS is seeking to recoup. 
		
	
	Since 2010 the CPS has also vacated a number of police stations some of which involved a formal agreement to occupy space. Since vacating these sites, the CPS has made payments totalling £339,430 in respect of such properties.
	In addition to amounts paid to date the CPS estimates future liabilities of £3.5 million in respect of vacant properties.
	Notwithstanding these payments the CPS is forecasting annual running cost savings of £20 million by 2016 compared with estate running costs when the programme began.
	Rental payments to leaseholders are made through the Department's property managing agents (DTZ). This answer is based on information provided by DTZ. Every effort has been made to ensure that information is complete and accurate but a full reconciliation has not been completed as it would not be cost effective to do so.

Crown Prosecution Service: Northamptonshire

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Attorney-General what cost savings have been made by the Crown Prosecution Service in Northamptonshire in each of the last three years.

Oliver Heald: The CPS does not record expenditure separately for Northamptonshire. Expenditure for Northamptonshire is recorded under the CPS's east midlands area which also includes Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.
	Expenditure and savings for east midlands in the last four financial years are shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Savings 
			  Net expenditure (£) £ Percentage 
			 2009-10 30,469,975 — — 
			 2010-11 29,332,743 1,137,232 3.7 
			 2011-12 27,020,496 2,312,247 7.9 
			 2012-13 26,781,541 238,955 0.9 
			 Total  3,688,434 12.1

Life Imprisonment: Scotland

Christopher Chope: To ask the Attorney-General what guidance he gives the judicial system on the prosecution of cases in the Court of Session which were previously resolved via a sentence of life imprisonment by an English court before transfer of the defendant to a Scottish prison.

Dominic Grieve: I have not given any guidance on this matter.

Prosecutions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what proportion of successful Crown Prosecution Service rape-flagged prosecutions were for (a) rape or attempted rape, (b) any other kind of sexual assault, (c) a non-sexual offence against the person and (d) another offence in each of the last six years.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the numbers of cases flagged as rape through the electronic Case Management System. A rape flag is applied to the electronic record at the outset of a case, and remains in place if the charges are subsequently amended or dropped. As a result, it is not possible to disaggregate defendants convicted of rape offences from those who were convicted of other non-rape charges.
	Official crime and court proceedings and sentencing statistics are maintained by the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice respectively.

Terrorism: Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Attorney-General pursuant to the statement by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland of 28 February 2014, Official Report, columns 38-40WS, on the on-the-runs scheme, what assessment he has made of the legal status of the administrative letters issued to on-the-runs; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Grieve: I have made no assessment. The status of the letters is a matter that may be considered by the right hon. Dame Heather Hallett in her review.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Fracking

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will take steps to regulate hydraulic fracturing to minimise the leakage of methane from shale gas production into the environment.

Michael Fallon: The Environment Agency has set out its regulatory controls over leakage of methane from shale gas exploration in its draft technical guidance. The agency expects operators to aim for 100% containment of fugitive emissions of methane on shale gas exploration sites and the operator will need to provide details of how their monitoring, inspection and maintenance regime will achieve this. The Environment Agency is assessing its regulation of full production facilities and the expectation is that the requirement for 100% containment will remain in place.

Green Deal Scheme

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what savings would accrue to Green Deal customers if Green Deal providers were able to access the supporting data for Green Deal reports held by his Department.

Gregory Barker: Green Deal customers receive a Green Deal advice report which provides energy savings estimates for the package of improvements recommended by a Green Deal adviser. These savings are calculated by approved Green Deal software. The Green Deal advice report can subsequently be tailored by Green Deal providers using the Green Deal improvement package tool and following discussions with customers of the improvements they want to take up. Providers will also discuss the detail of any financing arrangement that the customer wants. Providing customers with access to supporting data held on the Green Deal Register is unnecessary as part of the Green Deal process and would not change the savings that accrue to customers.
	A list of approved Green Deal software can be found at:
	http://www.bre.co.uk/filelibrary/SAP/2009/GD_OA_software.pdf
	The Green Deal improvement package tool can be found at:
	https://www.gdsap.org.uk

Nurseries

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department's Executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Gregory Barker: Since its establishment in 2008, neither the Department for Energy and Climate Change nor its non-departmental public bodies have had workplace nurseries available to staff.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Affordable Housing: Harlow

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many affordable houses were built in Harlow in each of the last 15 years.

Kris Hopkins: The Department collects information about the number of affordable houses delivered in each local authority district, which are published in table 1008 here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply
	These figures include both newly built and newly acquired affordable houses.

Council Tax Reduction Schemes

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the number of people who face reduced work incentives as a result of changes to council tax support.

Brandon Lewis: We do not collect this information centrally. These are local schemes, and it is for local authorities to ensure that their schemes incentivise work.
	Spending on council tax benefit doubled under the last Government, costing taxpayers £4 billion a year-equivalent to almost £180 a year per household. Welfare reform is vital to tackle the budget deficit left by the last Administration.
	Our reforms to localise council tax support now give councils stronger incentives to support local firms, cut fraud, promote local enterprise and get people into work. We are ending the last Administration's 'something for nothing' culture and making work pay.

Disabled Facilities Grants

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the median time was for applicants to Disabled Facilities Grants funding to find out whether they are eligible in the latest period for which figures are available.

Kris Hopkins: This information is not held centrally.

Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will publish Birmingham city council's bid for funding for a weekly refuse collection.

Brandon Lewis: The weekly collection support scheme's prospectus told bidding local authorities:
	“we will not disclose the nature, scale and scope of individual bids... Once offer letters have been issued the department may publish top line information about bids where this is deemed to be in the public interest (for example, the name of the successful lead bidding authority, the amount that will be awarded and nature and scale of the successful proposal(s))”.
	The reasoning for this stance is that such information is closely linked to tendering and procurement processes in local authorities. Waste management is an area which is frequently outsourced, and where robust financial negotiations are needed by local authorities during the procurement stages to obtain value for money.
	In that context, disclosure of such bids could have an adverse effect on competition between companies in this process and put local authorities in a disadvantageous position. For example, the disclosure of budget set aside for a purchase could encourage suppliers to raise their prices and prejudice the bargaining position of a local authority.
	While some time has now passed since the bids were made, I believe that disclosure, contrary to the commitments made in the prospectus, could discourage local authorities from applying to other commercially-sensitive funding opportunities in the future; it would therefore not be in the public interest to break that commitment.

Housing: Construction

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what proportion of all new housing in each local authority area since March 2010 was classed as (a) social and (b) affordable;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of housing starts in each English local authority area since March 2010 were classed as (a) social and (b) affordable.

Kris Hopkins: holding answer 20 March 2014
	The Homes and Communities Agency publishes information about the number of affordable housing starts on site and completions for programmes it funds, broken down by local authority and by tenure. This information can be found here:
	http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/housing-statistics
	From April 2012, the Mayor of London has had strategic oversight of housing, regeneration and economic development in London. This means that the Homes and Communities Agency no longer publishes affordable housing statistics for London and this responsibility has been taken over by the Greater London Authority. Affordable housing starts on site and completions for programmes they fund, broken down by London borough and by tenure can be found here:
	http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/housing-land/increasing-housing-supply/gla-affordable-housing-statistics
	These statistics do not include information on any affordable housing started on site that has not been reported to either, such as some affordable housing funded solely through developer contributions.
	The Department also collects information about the total number of houses started and completed in each local authority district. This information is published in table 253 here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building
	Over 170,000 new affordable homes have been delivered in England since April 2010 (to the end of September 2013). Our affordable housing programme will lever in £19.5 billion of public and private investment over the current spending review period. Over 2015-18, we will be investing a further £23 billion in public and private funding for affordable housing.

Housing: Floods

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many properties in each local authority area have been flooded during the recent severe weather; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 27 February 2014
	In response to the Government’s severe weather recovery scheme, local authorities have been reporting the number of residential and commercial properties flooded in their areas.
	Information on properties flooded between 5 December and 7 February, the period covered by the first tranche of the recovery scheme payments, as at 21 March, are given in the following table.
	
		
			 Local authority Number of properties flooded 
			 Aylesbury Vale District Council 60 
			 Bath and North East Somerset Council 41 
			 Blackpool Borough Council 53 
			 Boston Borough Council 695 
			 Cornwall Council 199 
			 Cotswold District Council 29 
			 Council of the Isles of Scilly 10 
			 Crawley Borough Council 11 
			 Dorset County Council 323 
			 Dover District Council 30 
			 East Dorset District Council 23 
			 East Lindsey District Council 15 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire Council 240 
			 Elmbridge Borough Council 125 
			 Essex County Council 61 
			 Great Yarmouth Borough Council 26 
			 Guildford Borough Council 90 
			 Hampshire County Council 116 
			 Herefordshire Council 49 
			 Kent County Council 112 
		
	
	
		
			 King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council 60 
			 Kingston-upon-Hull City Council 269 
			 Lewes District Council 56 
			 Maidstone Borough Council 240 
			 Mole Valley District Council 123 
			 North Dorset District Council 10 
			 North Lincolnshire Council 424 
			 North Norfolk District Council 251 
			 Northumberland County Council 14 
			 Oxford City Council 61 
			 Oxfordshire County Council 20 
			 Runnymede Borough Council 236 
			 Spelthorne Borough Council 395 
			 Suffolk Coastal District Council 84 
			 Swale Borough Council 50 
			 Tandridge District Council 75 
			 Teignbridge District Council 42 
			 Telford and Wrekin Council 36 
			 Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council 436 
			 Waveney District Council 190 
			 West Berkshire Council 85 
			 West Oxfordshire District Council 27 
			 West Sussex County Council 125 
			 Wiltshire Council 445 
			 Woking Borough Council 55 
			 Total number of properties 6,117 
		
	
	Local authorities have until 6 June to submit applications for the second tranche of funding, which covers the period from 8 February to 30 May.

Local Government

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what recent representations he has received on filming of local authority public meetings by the media and members of the public; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what consultation he has had with volunteers on parish councils and other local authorities on proposals to allow local authority public meetings to be filmed; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: We recently invited comments from the National Association of Local Councils and the Local Government Association and other key partners on a draft of regulations which make provision for members of the public to film any council meetings which are open to them. In the light of comments received, we are now finalising the draft regulations which we intend to lay before Parliament shortly. If approved, these regulations will ensure that councils open their doors to the digital age so that citizen journalists can film, blog, or tweet to hold their council to account.

Local Government: Pensions

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will place in the Library a copy of each non-confidential individual response to the consultation on local government pension funds.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the right hon. Member to the Local Government Pension Scheme Shadow Advisory Board's website, where the non-confidential information that has been released is easily accessible:
	http://www.lgpsboard.org/index.php/structure-reform/responses-public-view

Local Government: Pensions

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  when he plans to respond to the consultation on the local government pension scheme launched in May 2013;
	(2)  if he will publish the three commissions provided by Hymans Robertson LLP, Squire Sanders (UK) LLP and CEM Benchmarking on the local government pension scheme.

Brandon Lewis: My Department and the Local Government Association jointly issued a call for evidence on the future structure of the local government pension scheme in June 2013. I have been considering the submissions to the call for evidence alongside the shadow scheme advisory board's advice and recommendations and the further analysis that I commissioned from Hymans Robertson and its subcontractors using the contestable policy fund. I intend to consult on my proposals for reform, which have been developed in the light of all of this evidence, shortly.

London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will bring forward legislative proposals to amend the governance arrangements of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority to make its members more accountable to the Mayor of London.

Brandon Lewis: In the Government response to the Communities and Local Government Select Committee Report: “Post-Legislative Scrutiny of the Greater London Authority Act 2007 and the London Assembly” (Cm 8761, December 2013), we stated that the Government accept that there is scope for reform in this area and are willing to listen to alternative governance models for fire in London.
	I understand that the Greater London Assembly is currently undertaking a consultation on reform of fire service decision making in London. The outcome of this consultation will help inform the Mayor as to whether he should ask the Secretary of State to use his order-making power under the Greater London Act 1999 to amend the membership of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority.
	If and when we receive the Mayor's request we will consider it in accordance with the legislative requirements set out in schedule 28 of the Greater London Act 1999.

Public Sector: Pensions

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals relating to the transitional protection regulations for England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: The Local Government Pension Scheme (transitional Provisions, Savings and Amendment) Regulations 2014 were made on 5 March 2014, laid before Parliament on 10 March and will come into effect on 1 April 2014.
	The regulations make transitional provision between the existing local government pension schemes in England and Wales and the new scheme which will come into effect on 1 April 2014. They preserve benefits accrued by members under the existing schemes and make provision to ensure that members within 10 years of their normal retirement age on 31 March 2012 do not suffer any detriment. The reformed scheme will ensure that local government pensions are fair, affordable and sustainable in the long-term, and are justifiable to taxpayers who foot the bill for employer contributions.

Smoke Alarms

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of (a) privately rented, (b) social and (c) owner-occupied homes in England with at least one working smoke alarm in each of the last three years.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 20 March 2014
	The latest available estimates, taken from the English Housing Survey, are in the following table.
	
		
			 Households by tenure and ownership of a working smoke alarm, England, 2008 and 2011 
			  Households with at least one working smoke alarm (million) Percentage of households 
			 Tenure of dwelling 2008 2011 2008 2011 
			 Owner occupied 13.0 12.7 86.4 88.5 
			 Private rented 2.6 3.1 79.5 82.3 
			 Local authority 1.7 1.6 86.4 88.8 
			 Housing association 1.8 1.9 91.7 93.5 
			 All tenures 19.1 19.3 85.9 88.0 
			 Source: English Housing Survey, DCLG. 
		
	
	These figures show there is still more to do to encourage households to have a working smoke alarm.

Smoke Alarms

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the effect on the likelihood of (a) death and (b) non-fatal injury as a result of fire in a domestic dwelling of being without a smoke alarm.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 20 March 2014
	The Department has carried out analysis looking at the relationship between rates of fatal fires and ownership of a working smoke alarm. This combined fire incident record details of whether a working smoke alarm was present in fatal dwelling fires with national estimates of rates of ownership of a working smoke alarm. This concluded that the likelihood of dying in a fire was at least four times greater in a household with no working smoke alarm, and possibly as high as eight times greater.
	The Government remain committed to ensuring the fire safety of people in their own homes. The long-running Fire Kills campaign works closely with fire and rescue authorities to promote fire prevention messages and also encourage householders to have working smoke alarms installed in their homes. Ownership has increased from 8% in 1988 to 88% in 2011. The current national advertising campaign—“Tick Tock Test”—commenced on 17 March and will run through to 30 March, encouraging people to test their smoke alarms when they change their clocks at the start of British summer time.
	We are also consulting on the requirements for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in the private rented sector.

Smoke Alarms

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of (i) privately rented, (ii) social and (iii) owner-occupied homes in England with no working smoke alarm in each of the last three years.

Kris Hopkins: The latest available estimates, taken from the English Housing Survey, are in the following table.
	
		
			 Households by tenure with no working smoke alarm. England, 2008 and 2011 
			  Households with no working smoke alarm (million) Percentage of households 
			 Tenure of dwelling 2008 2011 2008 2011 
			 Owner occupied 2.0 1.6 13.6 11.5 
			 Private rented 0.7 0.7 20.5 17.7 
			 Local authority 0.3 0.2 13.6 11.2 
			 Housing association 0.2 0.1 8.3 6.5 
			 All tenures 3.2 2.6 14.1 12.0 
			 Source: English Housing Survey, DCLG 
		
	
	The Government remain committed to ensuring the fire safety of people in their own homes. The long-running Fire Kills campaign works closely with fire and rescue authorities to promote fire prevention messages and encourage householders across all forms of tenure to have working smoke alarms installed in their homes. The current national advertising campaign, ‘Tick Tock Test', commenced on Monday 17 March and will run through to 30 March, encouraging people to test their smoke alarms when they change their clocks at the start of British summer time.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Equality

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities if she will press for adoption of a specific goal on gender equality in the post-millennium development goals framework when she attends the 2014 UN Commission the Status of Women; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Grant: The UK has been clear in its call for a standalone goal on gender equality and girls’ and women's empowerment, as well as ensuring that these issues are addressed throughout the goals and targets in the framework to be agreed by members of the United Nations. The UK's statement at the Commission on the Status of Women clearly set out the need for a standalone goal on gender equality, and the empowerment of girls and women in the post-2015 framework.
	We are working with others across the international community, including civil society, to ensure that this is achieved.

Higher Education: Females

Martin Horwood: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities if she will highlight the importance of places for girls in higher education in science and technology at the next Commission on the Status of Women; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Grant: On 11 March the UK delivered its national statement at the EU Commission on the Status of Women. The statement drew attention to the need for more women to be empowered and achieve economic independence. We took the opportunity to highlight the importance of enabling more women and girls to participate in education and training, preparing them for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers.
	At the Commission the Minister for Women and Equalities my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Maria Miller) co-hosted an international event with Glaxo SmithKline and the Tanzanian Government, specifically to promote women working in STEM industries.
	A panel session entitled “The transition of women from education to full employment and decent work, with a particular focus on employment in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)” was held at the UN on 18 March. UK officials attended the session.

UN Commission On the Status of Women

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what representations she has received from civil society organisations on preparations for the 2014 UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Helen Grant: Active engagement with civil society has been a key element of our preparations and plans for the 58th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. A robust programme of consultation and engagement with a wide range of civil society organisations has been put in place by my officials in the Government Equalities Office. As part of this, we have been able to take account of the views and representations of UK NGOs in our negotiations at CSW. These have included representations on the following:
	i. A priorities paper on the post-2015 agenda from the UK NGO CSW Alliance; ii. A submission from the Gender and Development Network; and, iii. Statements on millennium development goals and the post-2015 framework from faith-based organisations and international civil society organisations.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much the UK has spent on construction and maintenance of Camp Bastion in each financial year since 2012.

Mark Francois: Camp Bastion was constructed in 2006, so information prior to this date, does not exist. Nor is it possible to identify all Bastion construction and operation and maintenance costs since 2006, as a number of the relevant contracts covered all of our larger bases. These costs are therefore accounted for collectively for all bases in Afghanistan and, updated for 2013-14 to date, are as follows:
	
		
			 Financial year Costs (£ million) 
			 2006-07 67.809 
			 2007-08 80.855 
			 2008-09 87.214 
			 2009-10 116.905 
			 2010-11 177.029 
			 2011-12 77.528 
			 2012-13 48.409 
			 2013-14 62.008 
		
	
	The 2013-14 costs include those associated with drawdown and remediation, as well as force protection measures responding to the evolving threat. Significant infrastructure has been created at Camp Bastion to repatriate vehicles and material back to the UK.

Armed Forces: Discharges

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people left the armed forces in 2012-13.

Anna Soubry: The number of personnel who left the armed forces in financial year 2012-13 was 23,520. This figure has been rounded.

Armed Forces: Redundancy

Michael Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers have been made compulsorily redundant since May 2010; and what proportion of those soldiers were within one year of receiving a pension.

Andrew Murrison: A total of 6,330 Army personnel have left on compulsory redundancy between May 2010 and 1 February 2014. This figure comprises both applicants and non-applicants.
	Of these, we estimate that approximately 1.3% of redundees were within one year of their immediate pension point (IPP).

Defence Equipment and Support

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of staff in Defence Equipment and Support who will see their terms and conditions change as a result of introducing the private sector into the procurement process.

Philip Dunne: The terms and conditions of Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) staff will not change as a result of the recruitment of managed service providers to support the acquisition process.

Defence Infrastructure Organisation

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the planned timetable for the sale of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation is; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Murrison: The Defence Infrastructure Organisation is not for sale.

Defence: Procurement

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answers of 4 December 2013 to the hon. Member for Moray, Official Report, column 674W, and of 25 November 2013 to the hon. Member for Poole, Official Report, columns 36-7W, on defence: procurement, how much defence procurement expenditure was placed with small and medium-sized enterprises with a billing address in each of the English regions and in the other constituent parts of the UK in the last three financial years.

Philip Dunne: Details of overall Ministry of Defence expenditure with small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are available at the following link:
	http://www.dasa.mod.uk/index.php/publications/finance-and-economics/MOD-contracting-with-small-and-medium-sized-enterprises/financial-year-2012-13
	A breakdown of SME expenditure by UK region is not, however, routinely produced as part of this publication. This information will take additional time to collate and I will write to the hon. Member shortly.
	Substantive answer from Mr Dunne to Alison Seabeck:
	Further to the answer I gave on 6th January 2014, (Official Report, column 13W) to your recent question about expenditure with Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), I am now able to provide you with a substantive response.
	The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not routinely record information on the geographic location of its supply chain. The information extracted from the management information systems picks up payments made by the MOD to individuals and businesses by their billing address, which therefore does not necessarily identify the location where the work was undertaken.
	The level of direct MOD expenditure placed with SMEs in each of the English regions and other constituent parts of the UK in each of the last three financial years (FY) for which data is available is shown in the following table. This also shows the number of SMEs in each region that were paid directly by the MOD in each of these years. The rise in the number of SMEs engaged by MOD across these years reflects the availability of more accurate data to enable SMEs to be correctly categorised.
	
		
			 MOD direct expenditure with SMEs1, 2, 3, 4 
			 Region/Constituent part of UK FY 2010-11 (£ million) Number of SMEs FY 2011-12 (£ million) Number of SMEs FY 2012-13 (£ million) Number of SMEs 
			 North East 17 130 14 210 13 470 
			 North West 53 290 53 510 47 1,160 
			 Yorkshire & The Humber 68 320 77 510 80 950 
			 East Midlands 65 330 72 490 50 810 
			 West Midlands 92 440 86 640 69 1,110 
			 East of England 115 470 118 730 108 1,130 
			 London 138 430 111 660 131 1,130 
			 South East 286 1,000 272 1,450 275 1,980 
			 South West 157 750 135 1,090 218 1,460 
			 Wales 19 180 17 270 15 540 
			 Scotland 37 280 28 450 37 890 
			 Northern Ireland 23 80 25 110 15 210 
			 Totals (rounded) 1,071 4,720 1,006 7,140 1,059 11,840 
			 1 Excludes payments to SMEs where the postcode is incorrect. 2 Excludes payments to SMEs where the billing postcode is outside the UK (including postcodes in the Channel Islands and Isle of Man). 3 For 2010-11 and 2011-12 estimates are based on 2011-12 Dun & Bradstreet assessments. For 2012-13 the latest Dun & Bradstreet assessments have been used. 4 The number of SMEs in each region across each financial year is shown in brackets. This is rounded the nearest 10 and where a company has more than one billing address in more than one region, they have been counted in each of the regions to which a bill has been addressed. 
		
	
	The analysis is based on direct expenditure with companies positively identified as SMEs who have a UK billing address with a valid postcode recorded by the MOD. It does not include payments made (a) on behalf of other government departments, (b) by the MOD'S Trading Funds and Executive Non Departmental Public Bodies, (c) locally by the Department, or (d) through third parties such as prime contractors or other government departments. For these reasons, it only provides a partial assessment of total direct MOD expenditure by region and does not represent a replication of the official statistics on direct MOD expenditure by Government Office Region which were discontinued in 2008. These statistics were based on a different methodology and coverage including MOD personnel costs by region and adjustments for pan-MOD or pan-Government expenditure, amongst other items.
	You should also note that, unlike the answers I previously gave to the hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson), on 12th December 2013 (Official Report, column 343W), on SME expenditure in Scotland and to the hon. Member for Poole (Robert Syms) on 25th November 2013 (Official Report, column 36W), on SME expenditure in the South West, the above figures include miscellaneous non-contract payments and are not restricted to contracts worth over £5 million.
	A copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Dounreay

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  when the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) was informed of the leak of radiation which occurred at the Vulcan nuclear test reactor at Dounreay in January 2012; and for what reason there was a delay in informing ONR of that incident;
	(2)  pursuant to the statement of 6 March 2014, Official Report, columns 1077-79, on nuclear submarines, what consultations his Department undertook with the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency on measurable levels of increased radiation at the Vulcan test reactor between the leak at that reactor and the date of that statement.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when his Department informed (a) the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator, (b) the Office for Nuclear Regulation and (c) the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency of the incident at the Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment in January 2012.

Philip Dunne: There has been no leak of radiation from the reactor at the Naval Reactor Test Establishment (NRTE) at Dounreay.
	The Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator (DNSR), the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) have different regulatory responsibilities in relation to the Naval Reactor Test Establishment (NRTE). They were each informed at a time appropriate to those responsibilities.
	DNSR was informed in January 2012, immediately after the detection of low levels of radioactivity in the cooling water within the reactor, due to its responsibility for the regulation of the safe operation of the site and of the safety of operational submarines.
	The ONR regulates emergency planning at the NRTE, under the Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2001, and radiation doses to workers on site, under the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999. The ONR was first made aware of the issue in May 2012, shortly after the most probable cause was identified as a breach in a small area of the metal cladding that surrounds one fuel element within the core of the reactor, at which point the MOD and the ONR were able to make an informed judgment on issues relating to ONR responsibilities.
	SEPA regulates discharges from the NRTE under a memorandum of understanding on matters relating to radioactive substances. SEPA was first made aware of the issue in October 2012, shortly after the relevant site regulators had assessed and agreed the way ahead, including modifications to the plant to further improve monitoring and sampling, and plans to restart the reactor, at which point the MOD and SEPA were able to make an informed judgment on issues relating to SEPA responsibilities.
	Since SEPA was first made aware, there have been a number of site inspections and meetings at which updates were provided.

Electronic Warfare

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many meetings he has had with industry on UK cyber hygiene policy in the last three years.

Mark Francois: Work to improve wider UK cyber hygiene is being undertaken by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and it leads on industry engagement in this area. The Ministry of Defence is also involved with industry in the Defence Cyber Protection Partnership (DCPP), which reports to the Defence Suppliers’ Forum (DSF).
	The DSF is chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), and first met in July 2011. There have been seven meetings in total and cyber was an agenda item on three occasions.

Electronic Warfare

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the physical fitness criteria are for recruitment to the cyber reserve force.

Mark Francois: The naval service, Army and Royal Air Force have defined physical fitness criteria for all new recruits, regular and reserve. Given the specific skills required of cyber reservists and the fact that for many their normal place of duty will be in the UK, derogation from normal service medical and physical fitness standards is considered on a case-by-case basis.

Electronic Warfare

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many firms with contracts with his Department employ cyber reservists.

Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence places many thousands of contracts; therefore this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Electronic Warfare

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cyber reservists have been recruited to the Joint Cyber Reserve Force to date; and when he expects to meet his recruitment target.

Mark Francois: Recruitment for the Cyber Reserve began in October 2013 and is on track to deliver the Cyber Reserve at full operational capability within the next two years. Specific details of the Cyber Reserve capability are being withheld for the purpose of safeguarding national security. However, I am able to confirm that applications far exceeded the numbers required.

Electronic Warfare

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cyber incidents were recorded by firms with contracts with his Department in 2013.

Mark Francois: This information is not held in the format requested and we do not comment on the specific detail of cyber security incidents.
	Our armed forces depend on a wide range of equipment and services provided by industry and we recognise the importance of that. With the Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance, the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure and Government Communication Headquarters, we are working closely with industry to ensure they are aware of the changing nature of the threat and have effective counters in place. The Defence Cyber Protection Partnership (DCPP) aims to meet the emerging threat to the UK defence supply chain by increasing awareness of cyber risks, sharing threat intelligence, and defining risk-driven approaches to applying cyber security standards.

Electronic Warfare

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had with the NATO Co-operative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.

Mark Francois: During December of last year, the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), visited the NATO Co-operative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence located in Tallinn, Estonia, ahead of the UK's official joining of the centre. He was briefed by the centre of excellence on the benefits to the UK as a sponsoring nation and the programme of research and development work that takes place there. The UK has a permanent staff member seconded to the centre, demonstrating our commitment and close ongoing relationship.

HMS Victory

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the value of artefacts and cargo found within HMS Victory 1744.

Anna Soubry: We have no reason to change the assessment made by Wessex Archaeology in 2009 that it is unlikely that bullion or other cultural assets of monetary value, with the exception of cannon, exist at the site. We have made no estimate of their potential value.

HMS Victory

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which individuals or organisations his Department consulted before the transfer of the wreck of HMS Victory 1744.

Anna Soubry: On 25 March 2010, under the previous Government, the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport launched a public consultation on the future management approach that should be adopted towards the wreck of HMS Victory 1744. The results of that consultation were published in July 2011 and are available at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/105731/victory_response.pdf
	The Government's response included a list of contributors:
	Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck Sites; Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology; Alderney Maritime Trust; Archaeologist -Bournemouth University; Archaeologist-University of St Andrews; Augurship 320 Ltd; Representatives of the Balchin Family; Representative of the Temple-West Family; BG Energy Holdings Ltd; British Sub Aqua Club; Council for British Archaeology; Diver-British Sub Aqua Club; English Heritage; Falmouth Divers Ltd; Former Premier of Bermuda G P Resorts (USA); History Hunters International; International Committee on Underwater Cultural Heritage; Joint Nautical Archaeology Policy Committee; Lecturer in Archaeology-Institute of Archaeology; Maritime Historian Mary Rose Trust; Members of the Public, from the UK and overseas (mainly USA); Ministry of Defence-Defence Equipment & Spares (Salvage and Moorings Operation); National Maritime Museum Nautical Archaeology Society; Nelson Society; Odyssey Marine Exploration; Ordnance Historian; Ordnance Researcher; Planet Electronics Ltd; ProMare UK; Professional Association of Diving Instructors; Professor of Archaeology-Institute of Archaeologists; Receiver of Wreck; Rescue-The British Archaeological Trust; Retired Archaeologist; Seaquest Ltd; Searex Inc; Society of Antiquaries; Student of Archaeology-Warwick University; UNESCO; USA Publisher; Wreck Watch.

Malaysia Airlines

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assistance has been provided by the (a) Royal Navy and (b) Royal Air Force in the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Mark Francois: HMS Echo, a Royal Navy survey vessel, is currently en route to support the search effort. It will take some time to arrive and the exact role will depend on the status of the investigation when it arrives.
	Experts from the Ministry of Defence, the Hydrographic Office, the Department for Transport and the Meteorological Office are working in close co-operation with Malaysian and other international partners to analyse available satellite, weather and sea data to help locate the aircraft.
	Royal Air Force loan personnel on secondment to the Royal New Zealand Air Force are actively involved in maritime search operations.

Military Aid: Floods

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost of military support provided during the recent winter floods; and from which budget Operation Pitchpole will be funded.

Mark Francois: In line with the standard arrangements for the deployment of military personnel, we are discussing with HM Treasury the budget from which the Ministry of Defence's net additional costs for Operation Pitchpole will be funded.

Military Bases: Northern Ireland

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when a Minister of his Department last visited a defence establishment in Northern Ireland.

Mark Francois: Since January 2012 Defence Ministers have visited Northern Ireland defence establishments on five occasions. It is important to note that the Secretary of State for Defence was unfortunately obliged to postpone his planned visit of 20 March 2014, owing to unexpected developments beyond his control. Arrangements are being made to reschedule this visit.
	The following visits have taken place since January 2012:
	
		
			  Date 
			 Peter Luff 15 February 2012 
			 Minister for Defence Equipment Support and Technology  
			   
			 Sir Nick Harvey MP 30 April 2012 
			 Minister for the Armed Forces  
			   
			 Rt Hon Andrew Robathan MP 29 to 30 October 2012 
			 Minister for the Armed Forces  
			   
			 Rt Hon Mark Francois MP 21 to 22 March 2013 
			 Then Minister for Defence Personnel Welfare and Veterans  
			   
			 Rt Hon Andrew Robathan MP 13 to 14 May 2013 
			 Minister for the Armed Forces

Military Police

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will take steps to bring the service police force under the remit of the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Anna Soubry: I can confirm that the scope for independent oversight of complaints against the service police forces is currently under consideration. No decisions have yet been taken, including on the question of whether the IPCC would be best placed to provide such oversight.

Navy: Disciplinary Proceedings

Gisela Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what disciplinary proceedings have been put in place following the incident at Devonport Naval base regarding the Test Variant Torpedo.

Mark Francois: This incident is the subject of an ongoing MOD investigation. It is, therefore, inappropriate to comment at this time.

Nuclear Submarines

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the longevity of fuel rods used in the Vanguard and Astute class submarines under normal patrol conditions since the leakage incident at Dounreay.

Philip Dunne: There has been no leak of radiation from the reactor at the Naval Reactor Test Establishment (NRTE) at HMS Vulcan, Dounreay.
	We have not identified any issues with our operational submarines. The decision to refuel HMS Vanguard is a responsible and prudent precaution to help mitigate the risk to deterrent operations until the Successor submarines enter service starting in 2028.
	The implications for the three remaining Vanguard class submarines and for the Astute class will be the subject of further analysis, particularly once we have had the opportunity to examine the reactor core from the NRTE.

Nurseries

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department's Executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Anna Soubry: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 3 March 2014, Official Report, column 720W, to the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson).

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to recruit more cadet engineers to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary;
	(2)  how many engineers there are in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary;
	(3)  how many personnel are employed by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary;
	(4)  how many ships are operated by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

Anna Soubry: The current Royal Fleet Auxiliary recruiting campaign targets engineers through a number of advertising mediums including radio, digital media, specialist publications and a virtual careers fair.
	As of 1 January 2014, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary employs 1,860 personnel of which 550 are engineers (rounded in accordance with Defence statistics rounding policy).
	The Royal Fleet Auxiliary operates 13 ships.

Service Prosecuting Authority

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many times civilian counsel have been briefed by the service prosecution authority in each year since 2006; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: The Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA) did not become fully operational until 2009. The following table shows the number of cases in each year since 2009 that the SPA has instructed civilian counsel.
	
		
			  Number of cases civilian counsel instructed 
			 2009 7 
			 2010 7 
			 2010 7 
			 2011 10 
			 2012 12 
			 2013 11 
			 2014 (to 17 March 2014) 3 
		
	
	The SPA may have instructed civilian counsel on a number of occasions for each case.
	The SPA, in the same way as the Crown Prosecution Service, instruct counsel on complex, serious and high- profile cases.

Service Prosecuting Authority

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service prosecutors there were in the service prosecution authority of each branch of the armed forces in each year since 2006, what the length of their service in each authority was; how many have received specialist training in the investigation of sexual offences; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: Since the formation of the Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA) on 1 January 2009, the SPA has had an establishment of 36 military prosecutors and one civilian prosecutor (the director of service prosecutions). The military establishment can be broken down by service as follows:
	
		
			  Posts 
			 Royal Navy (RN) 5 
			 Army 27 
			 Royal Air Force (RAF) 4 
		
	
	Since January 2009, there have been periods where posts have been gapped for various reasons, such as operational deployments and maternity leave.
	The length of assignment varies within the SPA, dependent primarily on rank, but other factors can, and have, made standard ‘tour’ lengths fluctuate from time to time. Generally OF2s (Army captains, Royal Navy lieutenants and RAF flight lieutenants) will be assigned to the SPA for 18 to 24 months. OF3s (Army majors, Royal Navy lieutenant commanders and RAF squadron leaders) are assigned for two to three years. OF4s (Army lieutenant colonels, Royal Navy commanders and RAF wing commanders) are generally assigned for three years. However, the SPA currently has four OF4s who have spent between four and five years in post. OF5s (Army colonels, Royal Navy captains and RAF group captains) are on average in post longer than three years.
	In addition, the majority of OF3s and above will have previously served in the SPA (or the previous individual service prosecution authorities) and have returned to carry out a further tour; in some cases a third tour.
	16 SPA prosecutors have attended the Crown Prosecution Service rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO) course and other specialist training since 2010. The following table shows the breakdown by year.
	
		
			  Number of prosecutors attending RASSO course 
			 2010 4 
			 2011 4 
			 2012 3 
			 2013 5 
		
	
	It is the SPA policy that only suitably trained and experienced prosecutors conduct rape and sexual assault prosecutions. Currently the SPA has 10 prosecutors who have attended the RASSO course and other specialist training.

United Arab Emirates

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons HMS Tireless was refused permission to dock in the United Arab Emirates.

Mark Francois: As a matter of routine we do not discuss submarine operations, but I can give assurances that HMS Tireless's visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was not for any maintenance-related issues or repairs. HMS Tireless paid a successful visit to the UAE between 15 and 20 March.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what additional surveillance capability the Watchkeeper system will provide over the Hermes 450 UAV following the commencement of army trials.

Mark Francois: The H-450 tactical unmanned air system currently provides operational commanders in Helmand with a 24 hour, Intelligence Surveillance Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) capability supplying accurate, timely and high-quality imagery intelligence to support decision making, using electro-optical and infrared sensors. Watchkeeper, while similar in appearance to H-450, is fitted with an additional sensor payload of a synthetic aperture radar/ground-moving target indicator radar. This radar will create a persistent and flexible all-weather ISTAR capability with the ability to conduct surveillance through cloud and obscuration. This radar also allows Watchkeeper to conduct wide-area surveillance of a battlefield and, when operated as part of an integrated ISTAR network, will enable Watchkeeper to cue and direct other ISTAR platforms. With improved sensor range when compared with the optical systems, the radar will also enable the covert surveillance of targets.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Football

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on bringing forward legislative proposals to abolish the Football League creditors' rule; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Grant: The Government have no current plans to legislate regarding the insolvency of football clubs. The football authorities have made significant moves over recent years to put their clubs on a stronger financial footing, principally through the introduction of financial fair play rules, and I hope that these rules will negate the need for football to rely on the football creditors rule in cases of club insolvencies. I will continue to monitor this area closely, however, and will not hesitate to bring forward legislation if required.

Gambling: North West

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the number of people in (a) the North West, (b) Lancashire and (c) Pendle constituency who suffer from a gambling addiction.

Helen Grant: The Government do not hold problem gambling statistics on a local level. However the latest Health Survey for England recorded an overall problem gambling rate of between 0.4% and 0.5%, depending on the measure used.

Nurseries

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) her Department and (b) her Department's Executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Helen Grant: DCMS employees have not had access to workplace nurseries in 2010, 2013-14 and 2014-15. DCMS has one Executive agency, The Royal Parks. Its employees do not have access to workplace nurseries. DCMS does not hold this information for its 44 arm’s length bodies.

Television: Licensing

Michael Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was raised from the payment of licence fees to the BBC in the last year for which figures are available; and how much additional funding her Department provided to the BBC in that year.

Edward Vaizey: The BBC's annual report 2013 contains details of all the BBC's income, and its expenditure for 2012-13. In this the total income from licence fees collected for the period was £3.7 billion. The BBC receives no additional funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

CABINET OFFICE

Charities

Martin Horwood: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to encourage charities to become signatories to the Financial Reporting Council’s UK Stewardship Code;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to incentivise charities to manage their assets in a manner compliant with the Financial Reporting Council’s UK Stewardship Code.

Nick Hurd: The Financial Reporting Council’s Stewardship Code does not direct itself to matters particular to charities such as their responsibilities under charity law and their focus on beneficiaries. “Good Governance—a Code for the Voluntary and Community Sector” developed by a coalition of charity and voluntary sector bodies is a code designed for charities and the voluntary sector. This code has the support of the Charity Commission which encourages its adoption through publications and signposting on its website.

Conditions of Employment: Yorkshire and the Humber

Andrew Percy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number of people in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber who have jobs which primarily require working (i) during the day and (ii) at night.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated March 2014
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office for the estimate of the number in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber who have jobs which primarily require working (i) during the day and (ii) at night. (192966)
	Estimates of employment are derived the Labour Force Survey (LFS). During the survey, people who are identified as being in employment are asked about their regular pattern of work and whether it is usual for them to work (i) during the day, (ii) during the evening and (iii) at night. Respondents can say "yes" to any categories that apply. For those working 'during the evening' these hours are commonly between 15:00 and 24:00 and 'at night' they are commonly between 18:00 and 06:00. Therefore in some instances respondents may work both evenings and nights.
	Estimates derived from this question are available for the Yorkshire and the Humber. However, estimates for the Brigg and Goole parliamentary constituency are not available because the limited size of the LFS sample means that they are not of sufficient quality. The available estimates are given in the attached table along with the employment total to provide context.
	
		
			 People in employment by usual time of working, April to June 2013 (thousands, not seasonally adjusted) 
			 Usual time of work under regular work pattern1 Yorkshire and the Humber 
			 During the day 1,829 
			 During the evening 547 
			 At night 177 
			 Total employment 2,491 
			 1 The columns do not add up to the total as respondents can be counted in more than one category. Also, some respondents would not have answered this question. Note: As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. The above estimates all have a coefficient of variation (CV) of less than 20%. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV. For example, for an estimate of 100 with a CV of 20% we would expect the true value to be within the range 60-140. Source: ONS Labour Force Survey

Diabetes

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people died as a result of diabetes in (a) 2008 and (b) 2013.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Peter Fullerton dated March 2014
	On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for Health how many people died as a result of diabetes in (a) 2008 and (b) 2013. (192501)
	Table 1 provides the number of deaths where diabetes mellitus was the underlying cause of death in England and Wales, for deaths registered 2008 and 2012 (the latest year available).
	Figures for 2013 will be available in July 2014. The number of deaths registered in England and Wales each year by sex, age, cause, marital status, and place of death are published annually on the National Statistics website at:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/mortality-statistics--deaths-registered-in-england-and-wales--series-dr-/index.html
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of deaths where the underlying cause of death was diabetes mellitus in England and Wales, deaths registered in 2008 and 20121, 2, 3 
			 Registration year Deaths 
			 2008 5,541 
			 2012 4,931 
			 1 Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes E10-E14 (Diabetes mellitus). 2 Figures include deaths of non-residents. 3 Figures are based on deaths registered, rather than deaths occurring in the years 2008 and 2012. Further information on registration delays for a range of causes can be found on the ONS website: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/user-guidance/health-and-life-events/impact-of-registration-delays-on-mortality-statistics/index.html

Government Departments: Pay

John McDonnell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what payroll deductions other than trade unions subscriptions are made from Government Department employees through the check-off system.

Francis Maude: It is a matter for each Government Department to decide which organisations can collect their subscriptions through the employers' payroll service.

Manufactured Goods: Sales

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office for what purposes information provided via the UK manufacturers’ sales by product (Prodcom) form is used.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Peter Fullerton, dated March 2014
	On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what purposes information provided via the UK Manufacturers’ Sales by Product (PRODCOM) form is utilised (192495).
	The UK Manufacturers’ Sales by Product (PRODCOM) provides a comprehensive picture of industrial production in the UK. The statistics help users (such as Government, Policy Makers, Business/Market Analysts, and Trade Associations) gauge market share, and businesses to better understand how to establish new markets for their products.
	The PRODCOM Survey is carried out annually by all EU member states, under EU regulation. This enables comparison and, where possible, produces a picture of emerging developments of an industry or product in a European context.
	PRODCOM statistics are used to produce the UK National Accounts Supply and Use Tables, an integral part of measurement of UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
	The PRODCOM Survey identifies businesses that make particular products, and are also used to create a sampling frame for the ONS Producer Price Index (PPI). The PPI is a monthly survey that measures the price changes of goods bought and sold by UK manufacturers and provides a key measure of inflation.
	More detailed information on uses and users of the PRODCOM statistics is provided in our User Engagement Report, which is published on the Office for National Statistics website:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/method-quality/specific/business-and-energy/manufacturing/user-engagement-and-survey-management/prodcom-user-engagement.pdf

Manufactured Goods: Sales

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will review the requirements for small and medium-sized enterprises to complete the UK manufacturers' sales by product (Prodcom) form on an annual basis.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Peter Fullerton, dated March 2014
	On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will review the requirements for small and medium-sized enterprises to complete the UK Manufacturers' Sales by Product (PRODCOM) form on an annual basis (192498).
	The PRODCOM Survey is carried out annually in the UK under an EU regulation which requires each member state to capture data covering 90% of the Mining and Manufacturing activities as defined in the European Classification of Economic Activities (NACE). This requires robust sampling methods, to ensure suitable quality results, while minimising the burden on business.
	To ensure the EU regulation is met, all manufacturing businesses with employment of more than 100 are selected to complete the PRODCOM questionnaire every year. In some industries, where product sales are more variable, businesses with employment of more than 20 are also sampled every year. In general, for smaller businesses only a small proportion of are selected and they then stay in the sample for 10 years.
	It is ONS policy to regularly review the samples for all of our surveys, and the last review for the PRODCOM Survey was in 2009. There are currently no plans to exclude small and medium-sized enterprises from the sample as this would impact the quality of results and our compliance with EU regulations and wider user needs. However, we are reviewing the sample design in 2014/15. The results from this investigation and any plans to change the sample design will be published on the ONS website.

Manufactured Goods: Sales

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many businesses in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency were required to return the UK manufacturers' sales by product (Prodcom) form in the year ending 31 January 2014.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Peter Fullerton, dated March 2014
	On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many businesses in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency were required to return the UK Manufacturers' Sales by Product (PRODCOM) form in the year ending 31 January 2014 (192499).
	The number of UK businesses selected to complete the PRODCOM questionnaire was 21,704 in the year ending 31 January 2014. Of these, 1,480 businesses were in Scotland, and 26 in the Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency.

Profumo Inquiry

Frank Dobson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2014, Official Report, column 469W on the Profumo Inquiry, who holds the requested information; and how does the fact that requested data is not held centrally affect the comment by Lord Wallace of Saltaire that papers relating to the interviews by Lord Denning should not be published while those interviewed are still alive.

Francis Maude: Lord Wallace of Saltaire set out the Government's approach on 18 July 2013, Official Report, House of Lords, column 873.

Trade

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what the total amount was of financial penalties collected in respect of breaches of section 4 of the Statistics of Trade Act 1947 in each of the most recent three years for which figures are available;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the number of businesses in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency who have incurred penalties under section 4 of the Statistics of Trade Act 1947 in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions on behalf of the Minister for the Cabinet Office, asking for (1) the total amount of financial penalties collected in respect of breach of section 4 of the Statistics of Trade Act 1947 and (2) what assessment he has made of the number of businesses in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency, who have incurred penalties under this section; in each of the last three years, for which figures are available (192496 and 192497).
	The Statistics of Trade Act (STA) 1947 only extends to Great Britain encompassing England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland collects under the provisions of The Statistics of Trade and Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 1988.
	The following table shows the total financial penalties incurred and the corresponding number of businesses penalised under the STA for the last three years:
	
		
			 Great Britain Financial penalties (£) Number of businesses 
			 2011 2,000 1 
			 2012 26,600 12 
			 2013 14,250 9 
		
	
	No businesses in Scotland incurred penalties during 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Unemployment: Brigg

Andrew Percy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent estimate he has made of the number of jobseekers over the age of (a) 50 and (b) 60 years old in Brigg and Goole constituency.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated March 2014
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent estimate he has made of the number of jobseekers over the age of (a) 50 and (b) 60 years old in Brigg and Goole constituency. (192967)
	For this question Jobseekers has been interpreted as those claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) which covers about half of those considered to be unemployed. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles data on the number of people claiming JSA from the JobcentrePlus Administrative System.
	The table shows the number of people aged 50 to 59, 60 and over and 50 and over who were claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance in February 2014 resident in the requested parliamentary constituency.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	
		
			 Number1 of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance in Brigg and Goole, February 2014, not seasonally adjusted 
			  Number 
			 Aged 50 to 59 245 
		
	
	
		
			 Aged 60 and over 50 
			 Aged 50 and over 295 
			 1 Rounded to nearest five. Totals may not equal the sum of the independently rounded components. Source: JobcentrePlus Administrative System.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of (a) male and (b) female postgraduate students in Afghanistan;
	(2)  what recent estimate he has made of the number of undergraduate students in Afghanistan.

Hugh Robertson: According to the Afghan Central Statistics Organization (CSO), data collected from the Afghanistan Ministry of Higher Education show that 160,781 students studied in public and private universities in 2012-13. This included 28,713 female students. The Ministry also recorded that 13,061 students graduated from public universities in 2012-13, which included 2,256 female students. There are no CSO data on the number of students that graduated from private universities during that period. The data do not distinguish between undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Arctic

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department will take with the Arctic Council and its member states to implement the recent resolution of the EU Parliament on protecting the Arctic environment and (a) create a conservation area in the waters around the North Pole, (b) develop an agreement to prevent pollution from Arctic drilling and (c) institute a ban on industrialised fishing.

Mark Simmonds: Our officials are attending the Arctic Council meeting of senior arctic officials taking place in Canada this week. We will (a) reiterate our support for the principle of designating marine protected areas in international waters, where the science supports it; (b) welcome the work of the Arctic Council’s task force that is developing an oil spill prevention agreement between the Arctic states, and encourage its early conclusion; and (c) consider the emerging outcomes of discussions between the five coastal Arctic states to identify interim precautionary measures to prevent future fisheries in the Arctic high seas.

Burma

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether HM Ambassador to Burma has discussed with the Government of Burma their failure to implement drug eradication agreements with the Restoration Council of Shan State and UNODC.

Hugo Swire: HM Ambassador to Burma has not discussed with the Burmese Government the implementation of drug eradication agreements with the Restoration Council of Shan State and the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

China

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress his Department has made in securing Mark Reilly's freedom to leave China and return to the UK.

Hugo Swire: Consular staff in China are in regular contact with Mr Reilly and have provided assistance to him since his return to China. They last spoke with him on 13 March 2014. We have raised his case, with the Chinese authorities. I last did so when I met with Minister Wang Chao on 27 February 2014. The Chinese have made clear that their judicial processes have to be followed. We will continue to provide Mr Reilly with all appropriate support and assistance.

Colombia

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason no representative of the UK Embassy in Colombia has visited Francisco Toloza, Huber Ballesteros and David Ravelo in the last six months.

Hugo Swire: The UK cannot interfere in Colombia's judicial process nor can we visit non-British nationals without the permission of the Colombian authorities.

Colombia

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the UK Embassy in Colombia will observe the trials of Francisco Toloza, Huber Ballesteros and David Ravelo.

Hugo Swire: The embassy is monitoring the trials of Huber Ballesteros, David Ravelo and Francisco Toloza.

Colombia

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations his Department has made to the Colombian Government about extra-judicial killings.

Hugo Swire: During Colombia's universal periodic review in April 2013 the UK recommended that all cases of extra-judicial killings be investigated promptly and in line with international humanitarian and international human rights law. The Permanent Under-Secretary and the ambassador also made representations to the Colombian Government on this point in 2013.
	The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), and the Deputy Prime Minister both raised wider human rights issues with President Santos during their visit to Colombia in February.

Colombia

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of the killing of human rights activists in Colombia in 2013; and what assessment he has made of the human rights situation in that country.

Hugo Swire: We are aware of the report by non-government organisation (NGO) coalition 'We are Defenders' which suggests that attacks against Human Rights Defenders in 2013 went down by 4% while assassinations increased by 10% from the previous year. Guaranteeing the security of human rights defenders remains a top priority for the Colombian Government and the National Protection Unit, whose budget is around £120 million and provides protection to over 2,500 human rights defenders.
	The British embassy continues to publicly support the work of human rights defenders and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), and the Deputy Prime Minister both raised the issue of their security with President Santos in February.

Colombia

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations and on what dates the UK Embassy in Colombia has made to the Colombian authorities about the prison conditions and health of and the security risks to Francisco Toloza, Huber Ballesteros and David Ravelo.

Hugo Swire: The British embassy in Bogota is currently requesting permission from the relevant authorities to visit Mr Ballesteros.
	In December 2012 embassy staff visited Mr Ravelo in jail and the ambassador also wrote to the Attorney-General's office.
	The embassy will write to the Colombian authorities regarding the charges against Mr Toloza.

EU External Relations

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with which countries the EU acting as a legal personality has concluded co-operation agreements in the field of justice and home affairs.

David Lidington: In the course of this Government, agreements with JHA content have been concluded with the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Australia, Canada, Cape Verde, Colombia, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Norway, Republic of Korea, Peru, San Marino, Switzerland, Turkey, and the USA.

Kenya

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many vehicles are owned or leased by the British High Commission in Nairobi; and what the make of each such vehicle is.

David Lidington: The British High Commission (BHC) in Nairobi has 67 vehicles in its general purpose fleet. 38 of those are owned by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the remainder are owned by other UK Government Departments working in Kenya. The FCO vehicles are:
	
		
			 Model Quantity 
			 Land Rover Defender 4 
			 Land Rover Freelander 1 
		
	
	
		
			 Land Rover Discovery 1 
			 Toyota Prado 4 
			 Toyota Fortuner 2 
			 Toyota Hiace 3 
			 Toyota Landcruiser 5 
			 Isuzu TFR 3 
			 Isuzu NPR Truck 1 
			 Isuzu TFR Truck 2 
			 Toyota Doublecab 8 
			 Toyota Condor Minivan 3 
			 Toyota Probox 1 
			 Total 38 
		
	
	The vehicles are used for the official business and operations of the British High Commission in Nairobi.

Nurseries

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department's executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Hugh Robertson: The Foreign and Commonwealth has two workplace nurseries. Both nurseries were operating in 2010 and 2013-14 and both will be operating in 2014-15. Since September 2013 FCO staff have also been able to use the House of Commons onsite nursery.
	None of our non-departmental public bodies operate a workplace nursery. Nor did they in 2010 or 2013-14. They do not have plans to open one this financial year.

Republic of Ireland

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what official visits to the UK President Higgins of Ireland made prior to April 2014.

David Lidington: President Higgins has made several official visits to the UK, most recently in July 2013.

Russia

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the restrictions announced in respect of Mr Slutsky, a member of the Russian Parliament, apply to his privileges and immunities as a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; and if he will make a statement.

David Lidington: Membership of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe does not prevent the European Union from designating any individual under Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP nor from them being subject to both the asset freeze and travel ban provisions set out in that Decision. However, article l(3)(a) of the Council decision 2014/145/CFSP provides for an exemption to the travel ban where a member state is bound by an obligation of international law as a host country to an international intergovernmental organisation. The general agreement on privileges and immunities of the Council of Europe requires states parties (including the UK) to allow representatives free movement to and from the place of meeting of the Assembly. EU member states also have the discretion under article 1(6) of the Council decision to consider granting an exemption to a designated person where travel is justified on other grounds including on the grounds of attending intergovernmental meetings.

Russia

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 10 March 2014, Official Report, column 49W, on Russia, whether the Government have made an attempt to have a discussion with Council of Europe counterparts about suspending the Russian Federation from membership.

David Lidington: We have not had or requested any discussions with Council of Europe counterparts on the Russian Federation's membership. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) met Secretary General Jagland of the Council of Europe on 20 March 2014 when he discussed the situation in Ukraine and the role of the Council of Europe.

Russia

Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he plans to impose visa bans and asset freezes on named Russian officials associated with the Magnitsky case.

David Lidington: The UK does not intend to introduce a US-style "Magnitsky list". We have a robust visa regime which enables us to deny entry to those who commit human rights abuses. It is a declared policy of the present Government that people against whom there is credible evidence of complicity in the abuse of human rights should not normally expect to be granted admission to the United Kingdom.

Russia

Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is on implementation of the Resolution of the House of 7 March 2012 relating to human rights abuses and the death of Sergei Magnitsky.

David Lidington: The discussion on Sergei Magnitsky in the House on 7 March 2012 was an important opportunity to hear a range of views on this worrying case. However, the UK does not intend to implement the resolution of that discussion to introduce a US-style "Magnitsky list". It is a declared policy of the present Government that people against whom there is credible evidence of complicity in the abuse of human rights, should not normally expect to be granted admission to the United Kingdom.

Russia

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports his Department has received on the effect of EU sanctions on Russia on the economy of Cyprus.

David Lidington: Along with other EU member states, Cyprus has been clear in sending a united EU message to Russia that its actions are in flagrant breach of international law and will incur consequences. We remain in close contact with the Cypriot Government and I discussed the Ukraine crisis with Cypriot Foreign Minister Kasoulides during his visit to London on 13 March 2014.

UN Open-ended Working Group on Ageing

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which is the lead Department for the UK’s participation in the UN open-ended working group on ageing.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has represented the UK at the UN open-ended working group on ageing and consulted widely with relevant Government Departments to inform the UK approach.

Venezuela

Simon Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Government of Venezuela on freedom of press and speech and the detention of political opponents; and if he will make a statement.

Hugo Swire: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), commented on the situation in Venezuela on 18 February, during an official visit to Brazil. He expressed concern at the reports of violence associated with protests and the arrests of students and opposition politicians. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs highlighted the importance of freedom of expression and of the press and the right to protest peacefully.
	I have written to the Venezuelan embassy in London emphasising the importance of respecting peaceful protest and creating the right conditions for dialogue to take place between the parties. 1 have also asked to speak to my Venezuelan opposite number. I will continue to monitor the situation carefully, and call on all sides to refrain from violence, to reduce tensions and to create the conditions for genuine dialogue.
	EU High Representative Catherine Ashton also made statements on 14 and 21 February regarding the situation in Venezuela on behalf of all member states. The Government fully supports those statements.

Venezuela

Simon Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on political unrest in Venezuela; and if he will make a statement.

Hugo Swire: I am deeply concerned about the reports of violence associated with protests in various cities in Venezuela since early February. I receive regular reports on the situation from our embassy in Caracas.
	The majority of the demonstrations, including large-scale gatherings organised by the Government or by the opposition, have been peaceful, but some disturbances have been marred by violence. At least 30 people have been killed and over 350 injured. About half the victims are anti-Government protestors, but members of the police and national guard, pro-government supporters and bystanders have also been killed. According to official figures, there have been over 1,600 detainees, out of which around 1,300 have been released on parole and await trial. Over 100 remain in detention also awaiting trial. Over 40 police officers are being investigated for using excessive force in dealing with protestors, of which 15 have been detained.
	The number and frequency of the incidents has decreased in the last two weeks but there are still violent incidents. We continue to the monitor the situation carefully, and call on all sides to refrain from violence, to reduce tensions and to create the conditions for genuine dialogue.
	The UNASUR group of South American countries agreed on 12 March to send a commission of Foreign Ministers to Venezuela by early April to accompany, support and advise a broad and constructive process of political dialogue. We hope that this can play a positive role in helping to prevent violence and to promote reconciliation in Venezuela.

EDUCATION

Academies

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of academy trusts have applied to open a free school.

Edward Timpson: There are 2,581 academy trusts in England. 207 (8%) of the free school applications submitted in application waves 1 to 5 have been submitted by, or have links to, academy trusts. Some academy trusts have applied a number of times.

Academies

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many academy trusts account returns remain outstanding.

Edward Timpson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Coventry South (Mr Cunningham), on 18 March, Official Report, column 555W.

Academies

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  how many academy trusts did not submit their account returns on time in each year since 2011;
	(2)  what proportion of academy trusts did not submit their account returns on time (a) in the current year, (b) in 2013, (c) in 2012 and (d) in 2011.

Edward Timpson: The number and proportion of academy trusts that did not submit an accounts return on time is detailed in the following table:
	
		
			 Financial year Date due Number late Percentage late 
			 2012-13 31 January 2014 166 7.6 
			 2011-12 31 January 2013 119 8.2 
			 2010-11 31 January 2011 100 17.4 
		
	
	Academies were not required to submit accounts returns prior to 2010-11.

Adoption

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that children and adoptive parents receive support beyond the initial stages of the adoption process.

Edward Timpson: People who adopt are making a life changing decision, both for themselves and the children they adopt.
	Research indicates a high level of need among adoptive families for therapeutic services often many years after the adoption process has ended.
	It is for this reason that we have committed £19.3 million into an Adoption Support Fund to make therapeutic support much more widely accessible, timely and of high quality for adoptive families.

Children and Young People: Autism

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he has taken to improve the education of children on the autism spectrum.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education continues to fund the Autism Education Trust to provide training to early years, school and further education staff on autism. From January 2012 to February 2014, 22,451 staff have received level 1 basic awareness training, 3,214 have received level 2 hands-on tools and techniques training and 775 have received level 3 training for those who want to develop their knowledge of autism further and those who will themselves take on a training role, such as school special educational needs co-ordinators.
	The Department is also funding three autism organisations over 2013 to 2015, including Ambitious about Autism to work with four general further education colleges and schools to test innovative ways of supporting the transition of young people with autism from school to college and the National Autistic Society to help young people with autism take part in the development of ‘local offers', to provide advice to professionals and to fund an exclusion adviser for parents and professionals.

Children and Young People: Autism

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of teachers teaching in (a) the UK, (b) England, (c) Essex and (d) Chelmsford constituency undertook specialist training on educational provision for children and young people on the autism spectrum in each of the last five years.

Edward Timpson: These figures are not collected centrally. Schools make their own decisions on what training their staff need to support their pupils, based on the individual circumstances of the school.
	The Department for Education funds the Autism Education Trust (AET) to provide tiered training on autism: basic awareness training for teaching and non-teaching staff at level 1; practical knowledge and hands-on tools and techniques for all staff working directly with children and young people with autistic spectrum disorders at level 2; and level 3 training for those seeking more advanced knowledge and those pursuing a training role, such as lead practitioners in autism and special educational needs co-ordinators. Between 2011 and 2013 the AET received grant funding under grant from the Department to provide training to schools and from 2013 to 2015 is contracted to provide training to early years providers, schools and further education colleges.

Children and Young People: Autism

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent assessment he has made of the quality of educational provision for children and young people on the autism spectrum in (a) the UK, (b) England, (c) London, (d) the London borough of Lambeth and (e) Streatham constituency.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education recognises that provision for all children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) across England, including those on the autism spectrum, needs to be improved and that is why we are taking forward the reforms in the Children and Families Act, which recently received Royal Assent. Part 3 of the Act will bring about significant reforms to the SEN system from which children and young people with autism will benefit along with their peers, in particular from earlier, and more comprehensive, assessment and intervention and stronger arrangements for the transition from children's to adult services, which many on the spectrum can find extremely difficult.
	In 2008 the Autism Education Trust published a report “Educational provision for children and young people living in England”. That report found that
	“practice in many mainstream and special schools had improved tremendously over recent years”
	but that there was still much to be done
	“in reaching staff in schools who are not yet familiar with the particular needs of pupils on the autism spectrum and who struggle to teach them effectively”.
	The Government have continued to fund the trust, putting the emphasis on improving awareness and skills among early years, schools and further education staff. From January 2012 to February 2014, 22,451 staff have received level 1 basic awareness training, 3,214 have received level 2 hands-on tools and techniques training, and 775 have received level 3 training for those who want to develop their knowledge of autism further and those who will themselves take on a training role, such as school special educational needs co-ordinators.
	Education, including SEN, is a devolved matter and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have responsibility for autism educational provision in their administrations.

Children’s Centres

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  how many Sure Start centres have reduced the services they offer since May 2010;
	(2)  how many Sure Start centres have fewer staff now than in May 2010.

Elizabeth Truss: Local authorities are responsible for, and retain the flexibility for, children's centres provision in their area. They have a statutory duty to consult if any changes are planned and to ensure there is a sufficient number of children's centres to meet the needs of their local communities.

Diabetes

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he has taken since 2010 to ensure that (a) primary and (b) secondary schools are equipped to support children with diabetes.

David Laws: Schools are already required to support children with long-term medical conditions such as diabetes. Non-statutory guidance, “Managing Medicines in Schools and Early Years Settings”, is available to schools to help them manage medicines and support children with medical needs such as diabetes.
	From September 2014, there will be a new duty, which was introduced in the Children and Families Act 2014, on governing bodies of maintained schools and proprietors of academies to make arrangements to support pupils at school with medical conditions and to have regard to statutory guidance. The guidance, upon which we have consulted publicly, will set out the requirements on schools to support children with medical conditions, which we would expect them to apply to conditions like diabetes.

Education: Essex

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pupils in (a) Chelmsford constituency and (b) Essex continued into (i) further education, (ii) higher education (iii) apprenticeships in each the last five years for which figures are available.

Matthew Hancock: Destination measures data, following key stage 4 and key stage 5, are published at local authority level for the year 2009/10 and 2010/11. Parliamentary constituency level data are published for 2010/11 only.
	The requested data, for the available years, are shown in the following tables.
	The information is taken from Statistical First Release data, which is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-destinations
	
		
			 Destination measures for key stage 4 and key stage 5, 2009/10 and 2010/11 
			 Local authority level 
			 Key stage 4 Percentage going into a sustained1 destination 
			 Cohort2 year Destination3 year Local authority Number of students4 School sixth form Further education5 Of which: apprenticeships6 Higher education7 
			 2008/09 2009/10 Essex 15,940 34 50 5 x 
			 2009/10 2010/11 Essex 15,990 34 51 7 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Key stage 5 Percentage going into a sustained1 destination 
			 Cohort8 year Destination9 year Local authority Number of students4 School sixth form Further education5 Of which: apprenticeships6 Higher education7 
			 2008/09 2009/10 Essex 8,300 1 10 2 51 
			 2009/10 2010/11 Essex 8,700 1 10 4 48 
		
	
	
		
			 Parliamentary constituency level 
			 Key stage 4 Percentage going into a sustained1 destination 
			 Cohort2 year Destination3 year Parliamentary constituency Number of students4 School sixth form Further education5 Of which: apprenticeships6 Higher education7 
			 2009/10 2010/11 Chelmsford 1,460 52 35 5 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Key stage 5 Percentage going into a sustained1 destination 
			 Cohort8 year Destination9 year Parliamentary constituency Number of students4 School sixth form Further education5 Of which: apprenticeships6 Higher education7 
			 2009/10 2010/11 Chelmsford 1,280 — 7 3 52 
			 “x” means the value is suppressed due to small numbers. “—” means the percentage is less than 0.5% but greater than 0% 1 Sustained participation for the first two terms, October to March. 2 All students who are in state-funded mainstream schools and are at the end of key stage 4 and compulsory schooling. 3 The year following the end of key stage 4. 4 Number of students in the cohort for the stated year and key stage rounded to the nearest 10. 5 Further education includes further education colleges, sixth-form colleges and other further education providers. 6 All apprenticeships are also reported in the school sixth form and further education columns. Apprenticeships are identified where any qualifying learning has occurred at any time during the October to March participation period. 7 Higher education includes students at higher education institutions or undertaking higher education provision at a further education college. 8 All students who entered an A level or other level 3 qualification. This includes all level 3 qualifications i.e. general or applied A levels, AS examinations or other level 3 qualifications. 9 The year following Key Stage 5. Source: National Pupil Database.

Foster Care

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department takes to identify unutilised foster carers.

Edward Timpson: The Department does not collect information of unutilised foster carers.
	However, Ofsted collects annual statistics supplied by local authority fostering services and independent fostering services, which include occupancy rates of foster places. Details can be found at:
	http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/fostering-quality-assurance-and-data-forms-2012-13-first-statistical-release

Foster Care

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department takes to assist local authorities which possess insufficient foster carers.

Edward Timpson: I refer the hon. Member to the replies I gave him on 10 December 2013, Official Report, column 213W; 6 January 2014, Official Report column 94W; and 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 542W, which set out a range of activities the Government is funding to support the recruitment and retention of foster carers by local authorities.

Free School Meals

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to help schools that are unable to deliver free infant school meals in September 2014 because of a lack of capital funding.

David Laws: The Department for Education has previously confirmed that it would be allocating £150 million in the 2014-15 financial year to support the implementation of the universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) policy. Local authorities (LAs) are also free to use their budgets for improvement and maintenance to support this objective. We allocated £1.4 billion to schools, LAs and the Academies Capital Maintenance Fund for maintenance and improvement in 2014-15.
	On 6 March we launched a package of implementation support measures to help schools to provide meals to eligible pupils. This includes a national UIFSM support service, run by school food experts, which will offer advice and guidance to schools that need assistance in implementing UIFSM, The support will include a telephone helpline, the sharing of good practice, and intensive face-to-face support
	The Department also announced on 6 March that it would be providing transitional funding to small schools with eligible pupils, worth a minimum of £3,000, which qualifying schools will be able to use to help them overcome delivery challenges.

Free School Meals

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what extra funding his Department plans to provide to smaller schools to help them to provide free school meals for under-sevens; and if he will make a statement.

David Laws: On 6 March the Department for Education announced that we will allocate additional funding totalling £22.5 million in the 2014-15 financial year to help small schools (those with a total roll of up to 150 pupils according to the January 2014 Schools Census) with the transitional costs of implementing the universal infant free school meals policy.
	Schools eligible for this funding will receive a minimum of £3,000 to be spent as they choose in support of their implementation of the policy, including for the purpose of improving kitchen or dining equipment.
	Further information is available in the departmental advice document on universal infant free school meals, which can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-infant-free-school-meals

Free School Meals

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will allow a transitional period for schools to prepare to provide free school meals for under-sevens in cases where those schools need to set up their own kitchens; and if he will make a statement.

David Laws: The Government announced in September 2013 that state-funded schools will be required to offer free school meals to infant pupils from September 2014, giving schools a full year to put arrangements in place. We know from the universal free school meal pilots, in which schools were required to provide meals to all infant pupils and all key stage 2 pupils, that it is possible for schools to prepare to implement this policy with much less notice.
	In order to help schools to implement universal infant free school meals in September 2014 we have put in place a national support service, run by school food experts. The assistance available through that service includes a telephone helpline, the sharing of good practice, and intensive face-to-face support. We are also providing additional funding of £22.5 million to help small schools with the transition to providing meals for all their infant pupils.

Free Schools

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the names are of the free school projects proposed to open in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15 that have been cancelled or withdrawn; and what the pre-opening expenditure was for each of those projects.

Edward Timpson: The revenue funding provided to free schools that opened, or projects that planned to open, in 2011 and 2012 is published online:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/revenue-expenditure-for-free-schools
	This publication includes pre-opening expenditure levels. When a project is cancelled or withdrawn, the Department for Education seeks to reclaim as much pre-opening expenditure as possible.
	The publication will be updated shortly to include free schools that opened, or projects that planned to open, in 2013.

ICT: Curriculum

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress he has made on encouraging computer science and programming in UK schools.

Elizabeth Truss: As part of the reforms to the national curriculum, the Department for Education is strengthening the teaching of computing in schools by replacing information and communications technology with computing. The new programmes of study for computing, which will be taught in maintained schools from September 2014, have a much greater emphasis on computer science. For example, pupils at key stage 1 will be taught to create and debug simple programs and key stage 3 pupils will be taught to use two or more programming languages.
	We are also working with exam boards and sector experts to review the computer science GCSE and A level so that they reflect and build upon the changes made to the curriculum. The inclusion of computer science in the English Baccalaureate will provide further encouragement for pupils to take up the subject at GCSE level. We are also providing funding for several projects to help teachers acquire the necessary subject knowledge and skills to teach the new computing curriculum.
	We are funding the British Computer Society to build a network of 400 'Master Teachers', create online teach-yourself resources and deliver 800 in-school workshops to help primary school teachers improve their subject knowledge. A further £500,000 competitive match-funded scheme was announced on 4 February 2014 to support excellent computing teaching and lever additional investment and engagement from business.

Languages: Curriculum

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to expand the languages curriculum to encompass Urdu.

Elizabeth Truss: Schools are already able to choose which modern foreign languages they teach, and these can include Urdu. The new programme of study for languages, to be taught in maintained schools from September 2014, makes clear that learning a foreign language should provide an opening to other cultures, foster pupils' curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world.

Mathematics: Teachers

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how the mathematics teachers recently brought by his Department from Shanghai to England to help raise standards were chosen; who those teachers are; and which schools they came from.

Elizabeth Truss: We launched the maths teacher exchange between England and China in March 2014. Up to 60 teachers from each country will participate in the exchange which will start in the autumn term of the next academic year. Teachers from Shanghai will be sent to English schools designated as centres of excellence for maths. We are in the process of confirming arrangements, including which teachers and schools will take part. The programme will be managed through our Maths Hubs network which will be in place by September.

Private Education: Offences Against Children

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) has received any allegations of child abuse in independent schools that occurred before the establishment of the NCTL; and what powers the NCTL has to follow up any such allegations.

Edward Timpson: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 3 March 2014, Official Report, columns 676-77W, to the hon. Member for West Bromwich East (Mr Watson). 16 of the cases referred to relate to incidents that are alleged to have occurred prior to the establishment of National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL).
	The Teachers' Disciplinary (England) Regulations 2012 provide NCTL with the power to regulate teachers including those in independent schools. These regulations provide for any referral to be investigated regardless of the date of the alleged incident.

Pupil Exclusions

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the number of school-age pupils who have been illegally excluded from school in each of the last five years.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education's statutory guidance makes clear that all exclusions from school must be lawful, reasonable and fair. The guidance sets out schools' responsibilities in relation to exclusion and includes examples of unlawful use of exclusion. There is no excuse for a school not to adhere to the correct process, and Ofsted takes seriously any evidence that a school has acted unlawfully in its use of exclusion.

Pupil Referral Units

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the average cost per pupil of running a pupil referral unit was in the last year for which figures are available.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education does not routinely collect data on the average per pupil cost of running a pupil referral unit. Pupil referral units cater for a diverse range of needs and so the actual cost per pupil will vary significantly between institutions.
	The Department introduced new funding arrangements in April 2013 that take account of this variation. The new system offers stability for pupil referral units by providing £8,000 for each identified alternative provision place. This funding is supplemented by local authorities or schools when they place pupils into a pupil referral unit. The amount of top-up funding provided is determined locally to reflect the actual costs of educating pupils at that pupil referral unit.

Early Education: Funding

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what funding was allocated for disadvantaged two year olds in Rotherham in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Elizabeth Truss: Figures for the amount of funding allocated to deliver the early education entitlement for two-year-olds in Rotherham are published online.
	Figures for 2013-14 can be found at:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130903192841/http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/ earlylearningandchildcare/delivery/free%20entitlement%20to%20early%20education/b0070114/eefortwoyearolds/la-funding-allocations
	Figures for 2014-15 can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-for-learning-for-2-year-olds-letter-from-elizabeth-truss

Pupils: Per Capita Costs

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the education funding per pupil is in (a) Staffordshire and (b) Brent for 2014-15.

David Laws: The information requested is provided in the table.
	
		
			  Funding per pupil (Dedicated schools grant) 2014-15 (£) Early years block per pupil, 2014-15 (£) Higher needs block 2014-15 total1 (£ million) 
			 Staffordshire 4,310 3,515 62.19 
			 Brent 5,066 5,930 55.54 
			 1 High needs funding is no longer allocated on a per-pupil basis. 
		
	
	In addition, schools will receive money from the pupil premium for pupils recorded on the January 2014 School Census: £1,300 for each primary pupil, and £935 for each secondary pupil, known to have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years; £1,900 per pupil for each pupil recorded as adopted from care under the Adoption and Children Act 2002 or who has left care under a Special Guardianship or Residence Order; and £300 for each pupil whose parents were in the armed services in the last four years or is in receipt of a child pension from the Ministry of Defence.

School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list all (a) primary and (b) secondary schools which have successfully implemented the School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 to date. [R]

David Laws: The Secretary of State for Education has not assessed implementation levels centrally and therefore lists of schools are not available. However, Ofsted checks school websites routinely before inspections.
	If a parent, or other party, believes that a school is not complying with the requirements, they are entitled to raise this with the governing body. If their complaint is not resolved and they believe that the school has failed to discharge its duty or acted unreasonably, they can raise their complaint with the Secretary of State.

School Funding

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the statement of 13 March 2014 by the Minister for Schools, how much of the funding announced will come from (a) his Department's budget and (b) the Treasury.

David Laws: The Government have agreed to provide £350 million in 2015-16 to the least fairly-funded local authorities in England. We are able to achieve this without any local authority receiving a cut to its per-pupil schools budget.
	We are able to deliver this boost by using money from within our protected schools budget and because HM Treasury will provide additional funding as required.
	The Department for Education intends to find the majority of the £350 million from within its existing protected schools budget as determined at the Spending Round in June 2013. Based on current forecasts, the Treasury will provide around £90 million in addition to the Department's contribution.
	The precise level of any additional funding from the Treasury will become clear when we have final data on pupil numbers.

School Funding

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the statement by the Minister for Schools, of 13 March 2014, Official Report, columns 427-42, on school funding, whether any of the funding announced will generate a Barnett consequential.

David Laws: The Government have agreed to provide £350 million in 2015-16 to the least fairly-funded local authorities in England. We are able to achieve this without any local authority receiving a cut to its per-pupil schools budget.
	The Department for Education intends to find the majority of the £350 million from within its existing protected schools budget as determined at the Spending Round in June 2013, with additional money from the Treasury as required. Any funding provided by the Treasury will be agreed by the end of 2014 and will attract Barnett consequentials in the normal way.

School Facilities

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his policy is on opening up school facilities to the local community for use outside of the school day.

Elizabeth Truss: The out-of-hours term time and holiday child care that schools provide are vital to working parents. Many parents still find that the high cost and inflexibility of child care is a barrier to working, or increasing their working hours. The Government want more schools to make their facilities available to the local community. The Department for Education believes that if schools open up their facilities, it can make them a valuable resource and can strengthen links with the wider community that they serve. The Department wants to encourage more schools to offer child care between 8am to 6pm during term time and during school holidays by removing all unnecessary red tape and increasing freedoms. For example, we are removing the need for schools to have to consult when introducing community facilities and to have regard to guidance from the Secretary of State for Education, or local authorities and we are clarifying the rules on charging for community facilities.

Schools: Collective Worship

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the number of schools in (a) England and (b) Gloucestershire which carry out collective acts of Christian worship each day; what proportion those schools form of the total number of schools which are required to do so; and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss: All publicly funded maintained schools in England remain legally required to provide a daily act of worship for all registered pupils up to age 18 and the Government have no plans to change this. It does not, however, collect data on school provision in this area.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Developing Countries: Education

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding her Department has contributed to the Global Partnership for Education Fund in each of the last five years.

Lynne Featherstone: The Department for International Development has contributed the following amounts to the Global Partnership for Education in the past five years:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 In financial year (FY) beginning 2009 0 
			 In FY beginning 2010 88 
			 In FY beginning 2011 120 
			 In FY beginning 2012 40 
			 In FY beginning 2013 60 
		
	
	These figures are rounded to the nearest million pounds.

Nepal

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what programmes her Department supports to support job creation in Nepal; and what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of those programmes.

Alan Duncan: DFID Nepal's operational plan aims to create 230,000 jobs. Job creation is an important part of DFID's economic development work in Nepal, with five programmes delivering important results for poor people. The Employment Fund Programme (£14 million) has trained 48,000 new entrants to the job market, of which half are women and girls, since 2011. The Nepal Market Development Programme (£14.5 million) has increased the incomes of 48,000 small farmers since 2011. The Rural Access Programme, Phase 3 (£39.9 million) has created 80,400 short-term jobs. The Multi-Stakeholder Forestry Programme (£20 million) has contributed to the creation of 14,600 jobs since 2011. The Access to Finance Programme (£29.7 million) has helped provide new loans to 2,100 poor households in its first year and, on completion in 2018, will have generated 88,000 jobs.

Nurseries

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate she has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) her Department and (b) her Department's non-departmental public body in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Alan Duncan: Workplace nurseries are not available to staff working for DFID or the Department’s non-departmental public bodies.

Overseas Aid

Jack Lopresti: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will publish a detailed list of end-point recipients of aid allocated by her Department in each of the last three years.

Justine Greening: Official UK spend on international development by country, type and year up to 2012 is published in DFID's National Statistics publication, “Statistics on International Development” 2013, which is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-international-development/about/statistics
	Information in relation to 2013 will be published in autumn 2014.

Palestinian Authority

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department contributed to the (a) Palestinian Authority and (b) Palestinian Authority general budget in each of the last three years; and how such contributions are distributed.

Alan Duncan: The UK's financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority over the last three years was:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2011-12 30 
			 2012-13 34.1 
			 2013-14 41.5 
		
	
	Our financial assistance is provided through a World Bank Trust Fund.

Palestinians

Jack Lopresti: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department allocated in aid to the Palestinian Territories in each of the last five years. [R]

Alan Duncan: The amount of aid allocated to the Palestinian Territories in each of the last five years was:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2012 42.8 
			 2011 75.5 
			 2010 63.2 
			 2009 60.7 
			 2008 56.7

UN Commission On the Status of Women

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will press for the inclusion of a strong gender goal in discussions on the post-2015 development agenda at the Commission on the Status of Women.

Lynne Featherstone: The UK has been clear in its call for a standalone goal on gender equality and girls and women's empowerment as well as ensuring that these issues are addressed throughout the goals and targets in the framework to be agreed by members of the United Nations. The UK's statement at the Commission on the Status of Women highlighted the need for a standalone goal on gender equality, and the empowerment of girls and women in the post-2015 framework.
	We are working with others across the international community, including civil society, to ensure that this is achieved.

JUSTICE

Barristers

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many incidents of barristers terminating their contractual involvement in cases there have been since the introduction of changes to very high cost case fees in December 2013.

Shailesh Vara: Very high cost cases represent a tiny number of criminal trials—less than 1% of the total Crown court cases in the last year were classified as VHCCs. On average 10,000 trials are listed to be heard in the Crown court each quarter. Despite their tiny number in comparison to wider Crown court trials, VHCCs are disproportionately expensive.
	Forty-one barristers terminated very high cost case contracts following the change in rates announced in November 2013. This relates to seven cases.

Coroners

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what guidance he has issued to coroners in England and Wales on the storage and retention of files over 30 years old.

Simon Hughes: Regulation 27 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013
	http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/1629/regulation/27/made
	states that a document related to a coroner investigation must be retained by, or on behalf of, the coroner for at least 15 years from the date on which the investigation is completed.
	The regulation allows a court or the Chief Coroner to direct a coroner to keep a document for a different length of time. I understand that the Chief Coroner intends to issue joint guidance with the Keeper of Public Records to coroners on retention of documents in due course (see paragraphs 181-182 of the Chief Coroner's Guide to the Coroners and Justice Act 2009:
	http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/Resources/JCO/Documents/coroners/guidance/chief-coroners-guide-to-act-sept2013.pdf

Courts

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  which towns in England and Wales have more than one court housed in separate buildings; and which type of court in each case;
	(2)  which towns in England and Wales have only a (a) magistrates court, (b) crown court and (c) county court;
	(3)  which towns in England and Wales have more than one court in the same building.

Shailesh Vara: Details of the Government Central Estate, such as the property name, location and type of court are recorded on the Central Government property database e-PIMS. These records are available from the following link:
	www.data.gov.uk/dataset/epims

Courts: Television

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been spent on televising courts to date.

Shailesh Vara: Filming and broadcasting from the Court of Appeal began for the first time on the 31 October 2013. The media organisations that are permitted to film and record in the Court of Appeal have met the costs for the televising of courts to, date. These media organisations will continue to meet these costs for the duration of three years from the date that broadcasting commenced, as outlined in their agreement with the Lord Chancellor.
	The Supreme Court has televised its own proceedings since October 2009 and has spent a total of £821,000 to the end of January 2014, including running costs, equipment costs, and archiving costs, which are met from the Supreme Court's own budget settlement.

Crime: Yorkshire and the Humber

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of trends in the level of crime in Yorkshire and the Humber in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Peter Fullerton, dated March 2014
	On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics {ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for the Home Department for the total number of crimes recorded by the police in Yorkshire and Humber region, in each of the past five years.
	Police recorded crime figures are provided for the last five financial years (April to March) for the Yorkshire and Humber region.
	
		
			 Police recorded crime 
			  Number of offences 
			 England and Wales 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Region 485,738 433,282 410,754 395,670 357,691 
		
	
	Note: Data on police recorded crime are designated as Official Statistics following the UK Statistics Authority's decision to withdraw the National Statistics badge from the police recorded crime data series. The full assessment report can be found on the UK Statistics Authority website.
	These data have been published by the ONS and have been extracted from the data tables within the file entitled 'Recorded crime data at police force area level (including pivot table) from 2002/03'. This file is available here:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-324159
	Consistent with published ONS crime trends data, the table above show figures for financial year periods, with the last data point covering the year ending March 2013. ONS have published data covering a more recent time period, with most recent data available is for the year to September 2013, where there were 356,284 crimes recorded by the police in the Yorkshire and Humber Region. This figure has an overlap of six months (October 2012 to March 2013) with the 2012/13 financial year.
	Police recorded crime data covering the year to September can be found in the 'Police Force Area Data Tables-Crime in England and Wales, Year Ending September 2013' file, available here:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-326518

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average length of time taken is to determine an appeal of an initial award made by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

Shailesh Vara: The First-tier Tribunal—Criminal Injuries Compensation (CIC), administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), hears appeals against decisions made by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority on claims tor compensation for criminal injuries.
	In the financial year 2012-13, the average length of time between an appeal being lodged with the tribunal to determination was 59.1 weeks1. CIC appeals frequently involve requests for further evidence, including medical evidence, and a number of cases are stayed while a lead case is determined. These issues, together with the age of the cases presented to the tribunal, have an inevitable effect on the average time taken. The Government are prioritising those cases that have been waiting the longest in order to ensure that they are resolved as quickly as possible.
	1 This is Management Information only and not subject to the same level of checks as Official Statistics.

Custodial Treatment

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of offenders who received a custodial sentence have previously served (a) no, (b) between one and four, (c) between five and nine and (d) more than 10 community sentences in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright: The Government are committed to transforming the way that offenders are rehabilitated in the community, so that more offenders engage with court orders and post-release supervision and fewer reoffend. By drawing on the best of the public, voluntary and private sectors the Government wish to see new, innovative approaches to tackling our current stubbornly high reoffending rates. From 11 December provisions in the Crime and Courts Act 2013 will require community orders to include a punitive element.
	In order to impose a custodial sentence the court must be satisfied that the offence(s) is/are so serious that neither a fine alone nor a community sentence can be justified, and in considering seriousness the court must treat recent and relevant convictions as an aggravating factor.
	The number of offenders who received a custodial sentence in 2012 and who had previously not been sentenced to a community order, or had received between one and four; between five and nine, or more than 10 community orders, is shown in the following table. Of those offenders sentenced to immediate custody in 2012, 72% had at least one previous custodial sentence.
	
		
			 Number1 of offenders sentenced to custody in 2012 by the number of previous community sentences received 
			 Number of previous community sentences Number 
			 No previous community sentences 24,971 
			 1-4 previous community sentences 42,385 
			 5-9 previous community sentences 26,699 
			 10 or more previous community sentences 10,320 
			 1 Figures are based on counting the number of occasions on which offenders have previously received a community sentence for any offences recorded on the Police National Computer, including some offences committed outside of England and Wales. Where there were multiple offences on the same occasion, only the primary offence as recorded on the Police National Computer would be counted. Source: Police National Computer, Ministry of Justice.

Employment and Support Allowance: Appeals

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to ensure that claimants required to present their appeals against the refusal of employment and support allowance on a Saturday have advocate support.

Shailesh Vara: The First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support), administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service, hears appeals against the Department for Work and Pensions' decisions on a range of benefits, including employment and support allowance. The tribunal is designed to hear appeals from individuals without the need, for support from advocates.
	The panel that hears the appeal, which will comprise experts such as judges, doctors, translators, and mental health experts, will guide the appellant through the appeal process. An appeal is inquisitorial rather than adversarial in nature. Appellants may engage advocates to help in preparing for or attending an appeal, but this is a matter entirely for the individual.
	Appellants are asked before their case is listed if there are any days of the week, from Monday to Saturday, when they would be unable to attend a hearing. If Saturday is not convenient they can say so. Hearings which are held on a Saturday proceed exactly as they would on a weekday.
	If an appellant has engaged an advocate but the advocate is not available to attend the scheduled hearing the matter will be put to a judge as to whether the hearing should be re-listed.

Empty Property

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the empty property business rates for the vacant properties recorded on the e-PIMS database owned by (a) his Department and (b) any Executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies of his Department in the current financial year.

Simon Hughes: Information on empty property business rates paid on vacant properties owned by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) or any Executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies of the MOJ is not held centrally.
	Empty properties are eligible for a temporary exemption from business rates for a period of six months for industrial properties and three months for other properties. Once this period has expired, empty business properties are liable for full business rates. There are permanent exemptions for empty properties with a rateable value of less than £2,600, listed buildings, charities and community and amateur sports clubs.
	The Government Property Unit has been supporting departments to rationalise the Government's estate by taking a cross-Government view of property. Since 2010, over £1.25 billion has been raised by selling surplus freehold properties. Through leaving property across the central civil estate, we have also delivered cumulative, gross run rate savings of over £454 million per year. Where surplus property is awaiting disposal or lease end, the Government looks to explore all disposal options, including commercially sub-letting all or part of the space. Surplus property is listed on gov.uk
	Where surplus property is awaiting disposal or lease end but cannot yet be sold or sub-let commercially, the Space for Growth scheme, run by the Government Property Unit, invites small and medium-sized businesses, charities and social enterprises to utilise this space for free, boosting economic growth. Over 1,500 workstation spaces are now available in 57 different locations around England.

Essex Probation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what complaints against Essex Probation were upheld in each month since November 2013; what (a) response was made and (b) steps were taken by Essex Probation in each such case; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: Since November 2013, one complaint against Essex Probation Trust has been upheld and two have been partially upheld. It would not be appropriate to disclose detailed information about responses to complaints (other than to the complainants), as they contain personal information.

Essex Probation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he plans to announce the membership of the board to succeed Essex Probation Trust; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: From 1 June 2014, responsibility for probation provision in Essex will become the responsibility of the National Probation Service and the Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) for Essex. The National Probation Service will form part of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) and will be accountable to the Secretary of State, via the chief executive of NOMS. The appointment of the chief executive of the CRC was announced on 2 December 2013. We are in the process of selecting the other CRC board members and these appointments will be announced in due course.

Essex Probation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much Essex Probation (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on security in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.

Jeremy Wright: The information requested is not collected centrally and could not be obtained within the timescale. I will write to the hon. Member in due course.

Essex Probation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he plans to take to increase the cost-effectiveness of Essex Probation in the next 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: As in all areas of the country, our Transforming Rehabilitation proposals will tackle high rates of reoffending by opening up the market to a wide range of providers, encouraging innovation in the way that we rehabilitate offenders, extending rehabilitation to offenders sentenced to less than 12 months in prison, and introducing "through-the-gate" support to offenders before release. By introducing competition within probation services, and paying providers for their success in reducing reoffending, we will drive efficiency, getting better value for money for the taxpayer.
	We are on course to deliver these changes. The contract with Essex Probation Trust will end on 31 May, after which offender rehabilitation services will be delivered by the new national probation service and community rehabilitation companies.

Essex Probation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many times the Chief Executive of Essex Probation has met hon. Members since November 2013; when and for what purpose each such meeting took place; where each such meeting took place; what the duration of each such meeting was; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: On 20 December 2013, the chief executive met my hon. Friend the Member for Clacton (Mr Carswell) at Essex Probation head office, to discuss offender accommodation.

Essex Probation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress Essex Probation Trust has made since November 2013 on the integrated Offender Management project; how much has been spent by Essex Probation Trust on that project to date; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: The information requested is not collected centrally and could not be obtained within the time scale. I will write to my hon. Friend in due course.

Essex Probation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will place in the Library a record of Essex Probation's government procurement card transactions indicating the (a) date, (b) merchant and (c) amount of each such transaction since November 2013; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: When Essex Probation Trust has provided us with the requested information, I will arrange for it to be placed in the Library.

Essex Probation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many members of the public have attended each meeting of the Essex Probation Trust in each month since November 2013; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: No members of the public have attended Essex Probation Board meetings since November 2013.

Essex Probation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress his Department has made in the winding up of Essex Probation Trust; how much he plans to pay members of the Essex Probation Board in redundancy payments; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: A notice of termination in relation to the Secretary of State's contract with Essex Probation Trust was issued on 17 January 2014. It will come into effect oh 31 May 2014. The trust, in consultation with the National Offender Management Service, is engaged in completing scoping of the outstanding tasks that are needed before the trust can be dissolved. This work will continue for a short period after contract termination, principally to finalise the annual accounts and associated financial statements.
	Probation Trust appointments are regulated by the Code of Practice of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. They do not attract redundancy payments.

Essex Probation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department plans to pay each member of Essex Probation Trust Board in each of the next six months; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: The chair of Essex Probation Trust receives annual remuneration of £17,600. He will be paid at this rate during the continued operation of the trust board. The other trust members, other than the chief executive, who is an employee of the trust, are paid an hourly allowance of £15.40.

Legal Aid Scheme

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what arrangements he has put in place to mitigate the effects of planned reductions to legal aid under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 on (a) unaccompanied migrant children who have made Article 8 right to private life and family claims, (b) unaccompanied migrant children who have mixed claims and (c) trafficked children who are seeking leave to remain from his Department and have Article 8 claims; and if he will make a statement.

Shailesh Vara: Legal aid funding remains available for asylum cases, which account for the vast majority of unaccompanied children. Legal aid also remains available for immigration advice for an application to enter or remain in the UK for victims of trafficking, including children.
	Unaccompanied children would have a social worker assigned to them and receive the full range of support and services as all looked after children. For those over 18, many will be treated as care leavers and will continue to be entitled to a range of support from local authorities.
	The immigration process is designed to be straightforward and easy to navigate. Therefore people in immigration cases should generally be able to deal with their own application and not need a lawyer. In the relatively few cases that are more complex, pro-bono advice or access to a law centre is an option for further support.
	The Government had to take difficult decisions to respond to the unprecedented economic challenge we are facing, and the Ministry of Justice is making significant reductions to its budget as part of this. Legal aid could not be exempt from these tough choices—but we have ensured it remains available in cases that need it most.

Magistrates: Training

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on TV licensing training for magistrates in (a) 2008, (b) 2009, (c) 2010, (d) 2011 and (e) 2012.

Shailesh Vara: This information is not collated centrally. It could be provided only at disproportionate cost by contacting each of the 26 local regions of Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service to isolate the information from the individual training records for 23,244 magistrates (1 April 2013).
	The Judicial college provides comprehensive training materials which are always available to all members of the judiciary.

Maternity Leave

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of civil servants in his Department who were on maternity leave in each of the last five years returned to work.

Shailesh Vara: The Department does not hold a full set of administrative data regarding expected return to work dates from maternity leave and live administrative data for MOJ (excluding NOMS) sets only go back to May 2011.
	As a consequence estimates, based on the minimum (six months) and maximum (12 months) time permitted for a period of maternity leave have been made. These estimates show that between 96% and 97% of staff returned to work following a period of maternity leave which was due to end between 1 May 2011 and 31 December 2013.
	These percentages include staff who have left the MOJ but transferred to another Department but exclude staff on fixed term contracts whose contracts ended during their period of maternity leave.

Non-molestation Orders

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many times a non-molestation order was breached on average before the perpetrator was jailed in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright: There are two ways in which a breach of a non-molestation order can be dealt with:
	(a) as a criminal offence, which can attract a custodial sentence of up to five years; and
	(b) by the applicant applying for a committal hearing for civil contempt and which can attract a custodial sentence of up to two years.
	Offenders receiving their first immediate custodial sentence for the criminal offence of breaching a non-molestation order in the 12 months ending September 2013 had received, on average, less than 1 (0.5) previous convictions or cautions for the same offence.
	It is important to note that these figures are based only on those offences recorded on the Police National Computer (PNC) by an English or Welsh police force, including the British Transport Police. This database holds details of all convictions or cautions for breaching a non-molestation order since their introduction as a criminal offence in July 2007.
	Information on committal hearings for civil contempt is not held centrally by MOJ. The information may be recorded in the physical case files held at the courts, but locating and extracting it would involve looking at thousands of individual files and would incur disproportionate cost.

Nurseries

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department's executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Shailesh Vara: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) including its executive agencies HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) and the Legal Aid Agency and National Offender Management Service (NOMS) and non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) excluding probation trusts, do not provide child care facilities for staff.
	MOJ recognises that employees need flexible pre-school and out-of-school child care of a type and in a location most convenient to them. MOJ operates a salary sacrifice scheme for child care vouchers which enables employees to choose their own child care provider (subject to meeting eligibility requirements) and have their child care costs reduced by taking part of their salary in the form of child care vouchers (called salary sacrifice) up to prescribed limits. Child care vouchers are free from tax and national insurance contributions (NICs) so employees who use the scheme will make a saving on their child care costs. In addition MOJ at present offers a limited number of subsidised holiday play scheme places in Westminster Holiday Play scheme.
	In order to obtain the information for Probation trusts an individual commission would need to be sent to each of the 35 trusts which would incur disproportionate costs.

Oakwood Prison

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what the staff to prisoner ratio at HM Prison Oakwood is;
	(2)  what the staff to prisoner ratio at each prison in England and Wales is.

Jeremy Wright: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the right hon. Member for Tooting (Sadiq Khan) on 4 March 2014, Official Report, column 805W.
	Figures represent the ratio of prisoners to prison officers and prison officer specialists in public sector prisons, and the ratio of prisoners to prison custody officers in private prisons. Contractual variations with private providers has resulted in differences relating to whether functions are civilianised, contracted out, or performed by prison custody officers, resulting in limitations in comparability between public sector and private prisons. A review is under way into the most appropriate methodology for calculating prisoner staff ratios.

Prison Service

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many unfilled prison officer vacancies there have been, by prison, in each month since May 2010.

Jeremy Wright: The following table provides an estimate of the average monthly officer vacancy numbers in public sector prisons. The total number of officers is also provided to put the figures into context.
	
		
			  Average of monthly vacancy figures Vacancies as a percentage of average monthly full-time equivalent staff of non-specialist prison officers 
			 2010-11 850 4.7 
			 2011-12 600 3.4 
			 2012-13 520 3.1 
		
	
	
		
			 20131 360 2.3 
			 1 April to September. 
		
	
	The data in the table represents approximate figures (rounded to the nearest 10) which are our best estimate on the basis of the information provided by public sector prisons.
	We do not hold data centrally for private prisons.
	Although vacancy numbers are reported to the centre, workforce planning is managed locally by prisons. There are a number of complexities around the reporting of vacancies, in particular variations to staffing levels arising from changes in prison function or role, changes to prison capacity and changes resulting from the prison benchmarking and efficiency programme.
	In addition headquarters guidance on how prisons should report vacancies to the centre was amended in 2010 and also 2011. As a result there has been inconsistency in reporting and the level of uncertainty in the data held by the centre means it is not possible to provide an accurate prison by prison breakdown. For this reason we have provided our best estimate for total figures as set out above.
	A new workforce reporting tool is being implemented from April 2014 which will improve the consistency of reporting at prison level and enable accurate data to be held centrally.

Prison Service

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison officers were employed in each prison in England and Wales in 2013.

Jeremy Wright: Staffing levels are being reviewed prison by prison as part of our prison benchmarking exercise.
	Benchmarking optimises the skills of staff by introducing new ways of working and puts all prison officers in prisoner facing roles. The approach has been agreed with the unions and the NAO has commented that the wider strategy for the prison estate is the most coherent and comprehensive for many years.
	The number of full-time equivalent prison officers employed in each establishment of the public sector Prison Service of England and Wales can be found in table 10 of the publication available on the government website by following this link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/261632/noms-workforce-tables-30092013.xls
	The headcount of prison custody officers in privately run prisons in England and Wales, as at 30 September 2013, is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Headcount of prison custody officers in private sector prisons in England and Wales, as at 30 September 2013 
			 Establishment Headcount of prison officers 
			 Altcourse 296 
			 Ashfield 155 
			 Birmingham 342 
			 Bronzefield 141 
			 Doncaster 184 
		
	
	
		
			 Dovegate 234 
			 Forest Bank 204 
			 Lowdham Grange 216 
			 Oakwood 257 
			 Parc 323 
			 Peterborough 267 
			 Rye Hill 140 
			 Thameside 266

Prisoners: Domestic Violence

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what data his Department collects on the number of men in prison who have been victims of domestic violence;
	(2)  what data his Department collects on the number of women in prison who have been perpetrators of domestic violence;
	(3)  pursuant to the answer of 5 March 2014, Official Report, column 866W, on prisoners: females, in how many of those cases were the women victims of (a) partner domestic violence where the perpetrator was (i) male and (ii) female and (b) family domestic violence where the perpetrator was (i) male and (ii) female.

Jeremy Wright: An estimate can be made using the Offender Assessment System (OASys), which asks whether there is "Evidence of domestic violence/partner abuse (including threats and psychological abuse)" and whether this is as victim or perpetrator.
	Of the 2,192 women under sentence in custody at 31 March 2013 who had an OASys assessment of sufficient quality, 382 (17.4%) were recorded as having been perpetrators of domestic abuse.
	Of the 51,362 men under sentence in custody at 31 March 2013 who had an OASys assessment of sufficient quality, 3,750 (7.3%) were recorded as having been victims of domestic abuse.
	However, there are no further items in OASys identifying the gender of the perpetrator where the prisoner has reported being a victim, or to distinguish whether domestic abuse was partner or familial abuse. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	NOMS provides a range of programmes and interventions which are suitable for prisoners who have experienced domestic and other forms of abuse, as well as interventions aimed at those who have been perpetrators. These are available in both the male and female estate.

Prisoners: Repatriation

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department is taking to negotiate compulsory prisoner transfer agreements with (a) Jamaica and (b) Pakistan.

Jeremy Wright: We already have a voluntary arrangement with Pakistan. A compulsory PTA is a longer term objective.
	Compulsory PTAs can be difficult to negotiate, but we remain determined to secure them wherever possible. In January this year we signed a compulsory PTA with Nigeria and last year we signed a PTA with Albania. We expect to see prisoner transfers to both these countries before the end of this year.
	The Prisoner Transfer process is just one mechanism for removing Foreign National Offenders (FNOs). The number of FNOs deported under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) has increased under this Government. In 2013, we removed nearly 2,000 FNOs under ERS and under the Tariff Expired Removal Scheme (TERS), which we introduced in May 2012, we have removed 234 FNOs to date.
	Jamaica has stated that a PTA is incompatible with their constitution. We are currently providing them with advice on prison reform with a view to returning to discussions on this matter.

Prisoners: Sexual Offences

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many sex offenders were held in each prison in England and Wales between 2010 and 2013.

Jeremy Wright: Since 2010, those who break the law are now more likely to go to prison, and they go to prison for longer. The Government are creating a tough justice system with severe penalties available for serious offenders. We have already introduced automatic life sentences for a second serious sexual or violent offence, and we have announced plans to end automatic early release for child rapists, terrorists and all dangerous offenders. A range of interventions is delivered or enabled by the National Offender Management Service to rehabilitate, and reduce the risk posed by, sex offenders.
	NOMS has created a sex offender management board to look at which prisons sex offenders should be held in, how sex offender treatment programmes can be best targeted and regimes for sex offenders who are not engaging in programmes.
	The following table gives the number of sentenced and recalled sex offenders held in each prison in England and Wales as at 30 June for each year from 2010 to 2013.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of sentenced and recalled sex offenders held in each prison in England and Wales at 30 June for year shown 
			  2010 2011 2012 2013 
			 Altcourse 80 62 69 67 
			 Askham Grange 0 1 0 0 
			 Ashfield 13 10 8 0 
			 Aylesbury 97 123 125 104 
			 Belmarsh 31 43 45 32 
			 Buckley Hall 6 7 5 4 
			 Blundeston 28 11 11 16 
			 Bedford 7 13 22 15 
			 Bristol 25 36 25 40 
			 Birmingham 111 97 132 119 
			 Bullingdon 149 157 149 149 
			 Bure 430 445 435 439 
			 Brinsford 19 15 18 24 
			 Bullwood Hall 0 0 1 0 
			 Brixton 16 31 91 191 
			 Bronzefield 8 11 8 7 
		
	
	
		
			 Chelmsford 19 21 29 29 
			 Cardiff 24 13 11 5 
			 Cookham Wood 1 2 4 5 
			 Coldingley 6 10 14 6 
			 Channings Wood 132 136 225 222 
			 Canterbury 3 6 2 0 
			 Dartmoor 121 121 175 233 
			 Dovegate 135 139 148 115 
			 Drake Hall 6 2 5 3 
			 Durham 40 50 53 56 
			 Doncaster 80 65 75 75 
			 Dorchester 11 11 9 13 
			 Deerbolt 19 20 19 19 
			 Downview 4 4 10 9 
			 Erlestoke 11 9 13 10 
			 Standford Hill (Sheppey cluster) 2 0 0 0 
			 East Sutton Park 0 0 1 2 
			 Everthorpe 12 8 12 20 
			 Eastwood Park 7 12 6 3 
			 Exeter 46 36 35 40 
			 Elmley (Sheppey cluster) 63 58 70 105 
			 Forest Bank 36 38 56 67 
			 Ford 3 1 0 2 
			 Foston Hall 7 9 9 9 
			 Frankland 235 244 246 209 
			 Feltham 6 14 4 10 
			 Full Sutton 195 197 194 194 
			 Featherstone 1 1 1 3 
			 Garth 8 4 2 2 
			 Gloucester 25 24 18 0 
			 Guys Marsh 12 9 6 5 
			 Grendon/Spring Hill 43 37 40 38 
			 Glen Parva 26 27 37 19 
			 Gartree 2 2 0 0 
			 Hollesley Bay 8 1 0 0 
			 Huntercombe 1 4 6 43 
			 Moorland / Hatfield 16 15 301 313 
			 Hewell1 44 51 69 66 
			 Holme House 77 95 105 133 
			 Hindley 17 6 10 4 
			 Hull 256 248 245 232 
			 High Down 23 42 73 129 
			 Highpoint (North and South) 14 28 34 34 
			 Haverigg 11 8 6 10 
			 Holloway 7 5 6 7 
			 Isis2 0 10 9 12 
			 Isle of Wight3 736 753 804 898 
			 Kirkham 0 1 0 2 
			 Kennet 7 0 1 0 
			 Lancaster 6 0 0 0 
			 Leicester 15 11 21 35 
			 Leeds 76 88 92 111 
			 Lancaster Farms 19 11 21 15 
			 Lowdham Grange 2 4 3 4 
			 Lindholme 26 22 25 17 
			 Lincoln 80 79 99 103 
			 Long Lartin 135 145 129 130 
			 Low Newton 9 7 10 7 
		
	
	
		
			 Liverpool 74 98 93 66 
			 Littlehey 504 530 544 533 
			 Lewes 22 31 37 44 
			 Leyhill 47 49 72 102 
			 Morton Hall IRC4 8 0 0 0 
			 Manchester 121 123 118 123 
			 Maidstone 368 410 439 263 
			 Mount 0 2 1 0 
			 Edmunds Hill 11 0 0 0 
			 New Hall 9 11 9 12 
			 Nottingham 53 87 76 77 
			 Northallerton 12 5 6 3 
			 North Sea Camp 35 49 89 106 
			 Northumberland5 406 422 376 379 
			 Norwich 26 41 74 74 
			 Onley 17 19 8 13 
			 Oakwood6 0 0 5 291 
			 Peterborough7 23 51 60 34 
			 Portland 11 15 17 14 
			 Preston 37 34 44 50 
			 Parc 107 269 306 236 
			 Kingston 13 10 8 0 
			 Pentonville 52 36 69 70 
			 Rochester 9 4 8 1 
			 Reading 7 14 7 7 
			 Rye Hill 149 147 142 140 
			 Ranby 42 52 45 25 
			 Risley 192 177 177 191 
			 Send 9 9 5 6 
			 Stafford 256 259 266 263 
			 Stoke Heath 24 6 4 6 
			 Stocken 18 19 27 24 
			 Swaleside (Sheppey cluster) 3 8 1 1 
			 Shepton Mallet 60 62 72 0 
			 Swinfen Hall 157 177 189 180 
			 Styal 7 5 6 7 
			 Sudbury 5 0 3 0 
			 Swansea 3 6 4 3 
			 Shrewsbury 172 213 174 0 
			 Thorn Cross 9 3 2 0 
			 Thameside 0 0 15 27 
			 Usk/Prescoed 195 206 207 240 
			 Verne 3 4 3 4 
			 Wellingborough 18 13 9 0 
			 Winchester 48 62 66 49 
			 Wakefield 421 437 442 445 
			 Wealstun 5 7 9 10 
			 Woodhill 43 51 62 43 
			 Warren Hill 12 9 13 4 
			 Wayland 21 22 16 19 
			 Wymott 530 509 489 501 
			 Werrington 2 2 2 2 
			 Wolds 3 0 2 5 
			 Whitemoor 17 19 15 16 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 23 16 14 16 
			 Whatton 677 728 710 714 
			 Wandsworth 242 263 49 46 
		
	
	
		
			 Wetherby 20 23 25 15 
			 Total 9,304 9,850 10,473 10,540 
			 1 HMP Hewell was created by an amalgamation of the three former prisons, Blakenhurst, Brockhill and Hewell Grange on 25 June 2008; as of 31 December 2011, the Brockhill site closed. 2 HMP & YOI Isis, which opened on 28 July 2010, is sited within the perimeter wall of HMP Belmarsh. 3 HMP Isle of Wight was created by an amalgamation of the three former prisons, Albany, Camp Hill and Parkhurst on 1 April 2009. 4 HMP Morton Hall closed (having previously been a female prison) and then re-opened as an Immigration Removal Centre, holding immigration detainees on behalf of UKBA. On 16 May, Morton Hall began operating as an Immigration Removal Centre. 5 HMP Northumberland is the new name for Acklington and Castington 6 HMP Oakwood opened in April 2012, and came into full operation by spring 2013 7 Peterborough is a dual purpose prison for men and women. Source: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prisons: Vandalism

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how much was recovered from (a) convicted offenders and (b) prisoners on remand following damage caused by them to prison service property in the last full financial year for which figures are available;
	(2)  what the cost was of damage to prison service property caused by (a) convicted offenders and (b) prisoners on remand in the last full financial year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) introduced the system of recovering monies from prisoners for damage to prison property from 1 November 2013 following the implementation of Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 31/2013. Following a finding of guilt on adjudication, a requirement to pay compensation can be made for up to 100% of the damage caused, including labour costs. However the maximum must not exceed £2,000 and must never exceed the value of the damage caused.
	Figures for the full financial year 2013-14 are therefore not yet available.
	Moneys recovered from prisoners as a result of damage to prisons or prison property are recorded centrally by NOMS in summary format and do not distinguish between convicted or remand prisoners.
	To obtain this information would require an examination of local records held at each establishment which could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Visits

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many closed visits there were in English jails in (a) 2012 and (b) 2013.

Jeremy Wright: “Closed visits” is a term applied to visits where the prisoner and visitor are prevented from having any physical contact. They are an administrative measure imposed for a limited period and on the basis of reasonable suspicion to prevent the smuggling of contraband through visits. The information about the number of closed visits that occur is not recorded centrally. It could be provided only at disproportionate cost by cross referencing and collating information from records held by individual prison establishments.

Probation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many vacancies there were for posts in the new (a) National Probation Service and (b) community rehabilitation companies on 1 February 2014;
	(2)  how many senior management posts there will be in the new National Probation Service and the community rehabilitation companies.

Jeremy Wright: The National Probation Service (NPS) and Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) will commence operation on I June 2014, and the process of moving staff into the new structure is nearing completion. According to information collected directly from Probation Trusts, less than 5% of posts across Trusts were vacant on 1 February 2014. These vacancies are managed as part of the business as usual process. We will continue to monitor and manage staff movements as transition to the new system progresses.
	In terms of senior management posts the NOMS director of probation will be responsible for the NPS in England, with responsibility for the NPS in Wales covered by the NOMS director for Wales. In addition to these posts, there will be 7 NPS deputy directors and each of the 21 new CRCs will have its own chief executive, all of which have been appointed. Below this level, senior management posts have been filled through an expression of interest and assignment process. Under the terms of the National Agreement, all senior managers currently working within Trusts will be assigned to a role in either the NPS or a CRC.

Probation

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many offender cases will be transferred from one officer to another following the creation of the National Probation Service and community rehabilitation companies;
	(2)  whether the circumstances under which an offender should stay with a particular team or probation officer and not be transferred will change as a result of the introduction of the National Probation Service and the 21 community rehabilitation companies;
	(3)  whether he expects the rehabilitation activity requirement to reduce unit costs in the courts and the community rehabilitation companies.

Jeremy Wright: Responsibility for the initial assessment of offenders, and management of those who are assessed as high risk, will rest with the National Probation Service (NPS). Once the NPS has assumed responsibility for an offender's case, they will continue to retain responsibility even if the offender's risk of serious harm decreases during their sentence. If an offender's risk of harm escalates to high, responsibility for the management of the case will transfer from the Community Rehabilitation Company to the NPS. The number of cases transferred will depend on the outcomes of risk assessments on offenders, and case transfers will happen in a way that ensures public protection, which remains our primary concern.
	It is envisaged that reductions in reoffending delivered through the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms will reduce overall costs across the CJS.

Procurement

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate his Department has made of the full costs of the national compliance and enforcement service and the value of its business; and when this estimate was made.

Shailesh Vara: The cost of the national compliance and enforcement service for the financial year 2012-13 was £49 million.
	Costs are the direct staff, office and court costs relating to the enforcement of financial penalties imposed by the courts. Approved enforcement agents costs which are reimbursed by the offender, and central overhead costs are not included.
	The total value of debt estimated to be recoverable as at 31 March 2013, as published in the HM Courts and Tribunals Service Trust Statement 2012-13, was £320 million.

Re-employment

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff of his Department and its agencies have been made redundant and subsequently re-employed by his Department and its agencies on (a) permanent and (b) fixed-term contract basis since May 2010.

Shailesh Vara: I refer the hon. member to the answer given on 4 February 2014, Official Report, column 227:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140204/text/140204w0004.htm#140204.htm_spnew20

Secure Training Centres

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the National Offender Management Service review of Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork includes secure colleges in its scope.

Jeremy Wright: The Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process is a prisoner-centred, flexible care planning system for prisoners who are identified as being at risk of suicide or self-harm. Its use for young people (under 18) is currently under review.
	Secure colleges are not part of this review. However, as the Ministry of Justice develops the approach for secure colleges, we will need to ensure processes are in place to safeguard young people held in them. This will take into account learning from the current youth estate including the applicability of the ACCT process.

Sentencing: Foreign Nationals

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to ensure that the sentencing of foreign criminals in British courts is in accordance with the relevant sentencing guidelines.

Jeremy Wright: The Government are committed to ensuring that foreign nationals who commit offences in this country are subject to the criminal law and where appropriate are also subject to deportation action.
	Sentencing guidelines are produced independently of Government, by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales. The guidelines relate to the sentencing of offenders in England and Wales regardless of their nationality. Judges and magistrates have a statutory duty under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 to follow the sentencing guidelines unless it would not be in the interests of justice to do so. The Attorney-General also has a power to refer to the Court of Appeal certain cases where he considers that the sentence in an individual case is unduly lenient. This referral process also applies to sentences imposed on foreign national offenders.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to charge recipients of welfare benefit who appeal against decisions made by his Department.

Shailesh Vara: The Secretary of State has no plans to introduce fees to bring an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support).

Stalking

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of probation staff have received training in sections 2A and 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

Jeremy Wright: Sections 2A and 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, which were inserted by virtue of section 111 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, have been included in the curriculum of the Probation Qualification Framework since 2012.
	The Home Office has funded the development and delivery of a training package on stalking for frontline professionals which is being delivered by Women's Aid, in collaboration with Paladin, the National Stalking Advocacy Service. This training is currently taking place nationwide. The training material is also available for use by organisations and agencies to deliver sessions themselves.
	Employment information, including training details, relating to probation staff is held by the 35 probation trusts. It is not collected centrally and could not be collected without incurring disproportionate cost.

Stalking

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what treatment is available for persons convicted of stalking (a) in prisons and (b) as a condition of a community order.

Jeremy Wright: NOMS commissioning strategy focuses investment on higher risk/harm groups of offenders with whom interventions have a proven impact. Stalkers are a comparatively small group within the offending population with a broad range of offending behaviours which may have different underlying motives or risk factors. The needs of offenders convicted of offences involving stalking behaviour can in some cases be addressed through existing accredited offending behaviour programmes or through one-to-one work.
	NOMS Commissioners continually bear in mind the need to examine the needs of particular offender sub groups. If it becomes apparent that there is any discrete and significant subgroup of offenders with specific needs that are not met by existing provision, our commissioning strategy will change.

Television: Licences

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prosecutions were heard in magistrates courts for non-payment of television licences in each year between 2007 and 2012; and how many such cases failed to result in a prosecution.

Shailesh Vara: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences relating to installing or using a television receiver without the appropriate licence is shown in Table 1, along with the number found guilty and the number not found guilty.
	Most TV licensing cases that are heard by magistrates courts are uncontested and the case is therefore often resolved in the defendant's absence. However, as part of our ongoing work to make court processes more efficient, the Ministry of Justice has brought forward proposals in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill that would permit such high-volume, low-level cases as TV licence evasion, when unopposed, to be heard by a single Justice.
	
		
			 Table 1: Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences relating to installing or using a television receiver without the appropriate licence1,2,3 
			  Defendants proceeded against Found guilty and sentenced Not found guilty 
			 2007 135,548 120,908 14,640 
			 20084 134,544 120,804 13,740 
			 2009 166,913 148,854 18,059 
			 2010 164,450 142,380 22,070 
			 2011 170,645 149,236 21,409 
			 2012 193,049 164,932 28,117 
			 1 An offence under Section 363 of the Communications Act 2003. 2 The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 3 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 4 Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice.

Television: Licences

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were fined for not holding a television licence in each local authority in North Wales in the last year for which figures are available.

Shailesh Vara: The number of defendants sentenced to a fine for TV licence evasion in the North Wales police force area, in England and Wales from 2009 to 2012 (latest data available) can be viewed in the table.
	Figures are provided by police force area and local justice area as the Ministry of Justice court proceedings database does not hold details of offences by local authority area.
	We want to keep the amount of court time and resource dedicated to dealing with these cases to a minimum. That is why the Government are already bringing forward legislation to ease the burdens on the courts, for example through using single magistrates for high volume, low level cases.
	Please note that court proceedings statistics for the year 2013 are planned to be published by the Ministry of Justice in May 2014.
	
		
			 Defendants sentenced to a fine for TV licence evasion1, by North Wales police force area, England and Wales, 2009-122,3 
			 Force Local justice area 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 North Wales Wrexham Maelor LJA 1,189 1,085 936 955 
			  Denbighshire LJA 585 484 463 483 
			  Ynys Mon/Anglesey LJA 167 110 155 55 
			  Gwynedd LJA 226 164 86 177 
			  Miscellaneous court — 3 — — 
			  Total 2,167 1,846 1,640 1,670 
			 1 Offence included: Television Licence evasion—Licence required for TV receiver—Communications Act 2003, S.363. 2 The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 3 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice.

Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress he has made on implementing the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010; and when he will take steps to bring this Act into force.

Shailesh Vara: I refer to the written ministerial statement made by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Mrs Grant), on 25 April 2013, Official Report, column 71WS. The position remains that we intend to introduce legislation to amend the 2010 Act as soon as parliamentary time permits and to commence the 2010 Act as amended as soon as reasonably possible thereafter.

Young Offenders

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many 18, 19 and 20-year-olds are currently held in adult prisons.

Jeremy Wright: As at 31 December 2013 there were 5,915 young adults (18 to 20-year-olds) in the secure estate. The following table shows the number of young adults held other than YOIs designated solely for 18 to 20-year-olds. Most of these will be held in institutions that are designated as both HM prison and HM young offender institution (YOI).
	
		
			 Prisoners aged 18-20 held in the adult estate1, 31 December 2013, England and Wales 
			  18 19 20 All 
			 Total 565 881 1,170 2,616 
			 1 Some prisons are dual designated to hold both adult and young offenders. While adult and young offenders will be housed separately the data does not allow us to determine which part of the prison prisoners are held in. Therefore some young offenders included here will be held in wings specifically designed for young offenders rather than the adult part of the prison. Data Sources and Quality: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Youth Custody

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much local authorities contributed towards the cost of places in the youth secure estate in each of the last four years.

Jeremy Wright: The Government believe that local areas and frontline practitioners should have greater discretion and ownership in tackling youth offending. Local authorities have since 1 April 2013 had greater financial responsibility for the cost of children detained securely on remand.
	Over the last four full financial years (2009-10 to 2012-13), the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales met the cost of detaining under-18s on remand in young offender institutions, while local authorities met one third of the cost of detaining children on remand in secure children's homes and secure training centres.
	As invoices in relation to places in secure children's homes were paid by the local authority designated by the court directly to secure children's homes, the local authorities' contribution to the cost of this sector is not held centrally and would be available only at disproportionate cost.
	The Youth Justice Board's income from local authorities in respect of children detained on remand in secure training centres over the last four full financial years is set out:
	on page 49 of it’s “Annual Report and Accounts 2009/10”
	http://www.google.co.uk/url?q=http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/yjb/2010/YJB-Annual-Report-and-Accounts-2009-10.pdf&sa=U&ei=glgQU5OIDcy3hAffmYD4D A&ved=0CCcQFjAA&usg=AFQjCNEPmBhAGX3GNSE VnRJDRVVJfaD_Eg
	on page 52 of its “Annual Report and Accounts 2010/11”
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/yjb/yjb-annual-report-2010-11.pdf?type=Finjan-Download&slot=00000077&id=00000476&location=0A64020C
	on page 64 of its “Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12”
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/corporate-reports/yjb/yjb-annual-report-2011-12.pdf
	on page 64 of it’s “Annual Report and Accounts 2012/13”
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/corporate-reports/yjb/yjb-annual-report-2013.pdf
	The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales meets the cost of detaining under-18s in the youth secure estate who are serving custodial sentences.

Zahid Mubarek

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress his Department has made on each of the recommendations in Lord Justice Keith's Report into the death of Zahid Mubarek in YOI Feltham in 2000.

Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) fully implemented 71 of the 88 recommendations made in the 2006 report of the Zahid Mubarek inquiry. Two recommendations were rejected at the time of the publication of the report. The remaining 15 recommendations were either partially implemented or became obsolete as a result of other developments. The final version of the action plan, giving a detailed account of the progress made against each of the 88 recommendations, was produced in June 2011 and placed in the House of Lords Library. Activity in response to the individual recommendations is no longer tracked, but the general themes have been absorbed into wider activity across NOMS.

HEALTH

Abortion

Julian Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what standards of data collection are required of clinical commissioning groups with respect to abortion services delivered in the independent sector.

Jane Ellison: Data requirements are for individual clinical commissioning groups to agree as part of the local commissioning process.

Alcoholic Drinks: Counterfeit Manufacturing

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to tackle the production of counterfeit alcohol that contains dangerous substances such as methanol or isopropanol.

Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) works in partnership with all United Kingdom local authorities to tackle the production, distribution and sale of counterfeit alcohol. The work involves the identification, detection and removal from sale of illicit alcohol including both counterfeit and fake brands that may be injurious to public health and products where the payment of UK duty/tax has been evaded.
	The FSA provides financial and advisory resources to local authorities tackling the production, supply and sale of illicit alcohol and works in partnership with other Government Departments, such as Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and UK Border Force, and industry to tackle this problem.
	The FSA uses intelligence, including that received from industry, to notify local authorities of the production and sale of counterfeit and fake brands or products, including those that are known to contain dangerous substances such as methanol or isopropanol and, if consumed, are harmful to human health. In such cases, the FSA issues Food Alert for Action notifications for immediate withdrawal action by all UK local authorities and publishes web-alerts to inform the public of the dangers of consuming the identified product.

Alcoholic Drinks: Counterfeit Manufacturing

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the risk to public health of the sale of counterfeit alcohol that contains substances such as methanol or isopropanol.

Jane Ellison: No reliable data exists on the scale of alcohol counterfeiting. There can be risks to public health from counterfeit alcohol because it may contain substances that are harmful to health.
	The Food Standards Agency works in partnership with all United Kingdom local authorities to tackle the production, distribution and sale of illicit alcohol. The work involves the identification, detection and removal from sale of illicit alcohol including both counterfeit and fake brands that may be injurious to public health.
	HM Revenue and Customs also works collaboratively with other UK enforcement agencies to tackle this threat.

Ambulance Services

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy that hospital accident and emergency departments compensate NHS ambulance services where the patient hand-over time from ambulance to hospital exceeds 15 minutes.

Jane Ellison: We recognise handover sometimes takes longer than the recommended 15 minutes, particularly during peaks of demand—which is one of the main causes for delays.
	That is why we have a system in place for unacceptable delay in patient handover.
	The 2013-14 National Health Service planning guidance introduced fines for the first time for both ambulance and acute trusts for all delays over 30 minutes and a further fine for delays over an hour.
	Any fines collected go back to the Clinical Commission Group, as the commissioner, who will work with the local Urgent Care Working Group to decide how the money is reinvested in the system.

Ambulance Services: South-West

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect on the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust of delayed hand-overs exceeding 15 minutes of patients from ambulances to accident and emergency departments.

Jane Ellison: This information is not held centrally.
	However, we understand that in the six months to 28 February 2014, data provided by commissioners shows there were 43,615 handovers that exceeded 15 minutes in the area served by South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT).
	SWASFT provides ambulance services to 18 acute trusts in the south-west. Its services are commissioned by South Devon and Torbay Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) as the lead commissioner for ambulance services across the South West, and handover delays are reported to CCGs on a monthly basis.
	Commissioners, SWASFT and the acute trusts all play a role in the management and reduction of delayed handovers. The lead commissioner regularly meets with SWASFT to ensure delivery of quality standards both in relation to performance against national response times and patient outcome.
	Additionally, SWASFT regularly meets directly with acute trusts to produce action plans to improve handover delay performance, and has worked with all acute trusts within their geographical area to ensure that the escalation procedure within each acute trust links in to their own.

Antibiotics

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Government has to encourage the development of new antibiotic treatments.

Norman Lamb: This is a priority for the Government. One of the key objectives of the five year UK Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy, published on 10 September 2013 is to help stimulate development of a sustainable supply of new antimicrobials (including antibiotics) and rapid diagnostics.
	The Government is actively encouraging research and development of antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents, nationally and internationally, to meet future needs.
	In addition, we are taking a leading role in galvanising support among United Nations agencies and other international partners for a new approach to address the market failure.

Autism

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to improve health outcomes for people on the autistic spectrum.

Norman Lamb: The Government are working with our delivery partners in the health and social care system to bring about improvement to the health outcomes of people on the autistic spectrum. We know, as a result of the work we are undertaking on the Review of the Autism Strategy that there are examples of good practice around the country, but are aware that there is still work to be done.
	In order to help improve the care and management of autism and to enable health and social care services to support people with autism more effectively, the Department commissioned the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to produce guidance on autism. This includes a recent Quality Standard for Autism which can help to inform the commissioning of autism services for children, young people and adults, focusing on the key areas for improving the quality of existing services.
	At national level, the key enablers have been put in place. These include publication of statutory guidance for health and local authority bodies, commissioning of guidance and support materials from expert bodies, and publication of NICE guidance. The strategy and statutory guidance both promote Joint Strategic Needs Assessments as the vehicle for health and social care services to properly plan for the needs of people with autism in their area; action to be expressed through joint commissioning strategies and better local co-ordination of services.
	The Government are committed to achieving the vision, set out in the Strategy, of local communities that not only accept and understand autism but provide real opportunities for adults with autism to live fulfilling and rewarding lives.
	The updated Adult Autism Strategy will be published shortly.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cattle have been condemned after slaughter because of lesions caused by bovine TB in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency provided the following table which states the number of total carcase rejections for incidence of tuberculosis in cattle in approved slaughterhouses in Great Britain from August 2012 to February 2014. Records prior to August 2012 do not differentiate between total carcase and partial rejections therefore data earlier than this period would not provide a true reflection.
	
		
			  Total number of carcase rejections 
			 2012 906 
			 2013 1,892 
			 2014 293 
			 Notes: 1. 2012—Data provided from August 2012 to December 2012. 2. 2014—Data provided from January 2014 to February 2014.

Breast Cancer

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with NHS England on the potential annual publication of a review of compliance with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Breast Cancer quality standard.

Jane Ellison: Ministers have had no discussions with NHS England on the potential annual publication of a review of compliance with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Breast Cancer quality standard.

Cancer

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the efficacy and quality of care of patients with cancer in (a) Harlow constituency, (b) Essex, (c) the East of England and (d) England; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Results of the 2013 Cancer Patient Experience Survey (CPES) were published by NHS England in a national report on 30 August 2013. The survey report reflects the responses of over 68,000 patients and provides an invaluable insight into cancer patients' experience of care, treatment and support.
	For England as a whole, the survey results showed that cancer patients’ experience of care is improving, with 88% of patients reporting their care was either excellent or very good. Patients reported improved scores on 31 of 63 questions from the previous year—and this follows very significant improvement in scores in the 2012 survey over those achieved in 2010. It is clear that specialist cancer teams have been using the cancer patient experience survey to inform their quality planning activities, and that this work has borne fruit in many national health service trusts across England.
	Trusts in and around London were some of the poorest performers in the 2010 survey, but some of them have improved significantly since then.
	Princess Alexandra Harlow is ranked 131st of 155 trusts providing adult cancer care. Though it is clear there is much room for improvement, it should be noted that it has improved its position since 2010 and is moving in the right direction. It improved its scores from the previous year on a statistically significant basis on five questions in the 2013 survey and did not decline on any.
	In Essex and East Anglia more widely, the CPES identified a pattern of improvement. Trusts that improved significantly between 2012 and 2013 in the area are:
	Basildon/Thurrock (up on nine survey questions, down on 0);
	East and North Herts (up on six, down on 0);
	Southend (up on five, down on 0);
	Ipswich (up on five, down on 0); and
	Princess Alexandria Harlow (up on five, down on 0).
	The only trusts in East Anglia that showed declining scores overall were:
	Kings Lynn (down on three, up on one);
	Mid Essex (down on three); and
	Papworth (down on two).
	However, Papworth was still ranked in the top 10 of all trusts in 2013.
	To drive improvement in cancer patient experience, NHS England is working with high performing trusts in the CPES to identify best practice that can be shared and developed into toolkits and working with trusts with poorer scores to review how they use insights gained from the survey to develop service improvement plans.

Cancer

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of efficacy and quality of care for patients with cancer in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) England.

Jane Ellison: Results of the 2013 Cancer Patient Experience Survey (CPES) were published by NHS England in a national report on 30 August 2013. The survey report reflects the responses of over 68,000 patients and provides an invaluable insight into cancer patients' experience of care, treatment and support.
	Yorkshire and the Humber region has some of the best performing hospitals in England in respect of cancer care, as rated in detail by their patients through the mechanism of the CPES 2010, 2012, and 2013.
	The 2013 report shows that North Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Trust is ranked 66th out of 155 trusts providing adult cancer care. It has improved on a statistically significant basis on one question in the survey, and declined on none.
	For England as a whole, the survey results showed that cancer patient's experience of care is improving, with 88% of patients reporting their care was either excellent or very good. Patients reported improved scores on 31 of 63 questions from the previous year—and this follows very significant improvement in scores in the 2012 survey over those achieved in 2010.
	A copy of the survey report for North Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Trust is available at:
	www.quality-health.co.uk
	alongside all other cancer reports.

Childbirth

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women aged over (a) 40 and (b) 50 gave birth in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for Health how many women aged over (a) 40 and (b) 50 gave birth in each of the last five years.
	ONS is responsible for publishing statistics on the numbers of births registered in England and Wales. The latest year for which figures are available is 2012.
	The table below provides the number of live births in England and Wales to mothers aged over 40 and over 50 for 2008-2012.
	
		
			 Live births by age of mother, 2008-12 England and Wales 
			  Live births to women aged over 40 Live births to women aged over 50 
			 2008 26,419 69 
			 2009 26,976 107 
			 2010 27,731 141 
			 2011 29,350 118 
			 2012 29,994 154 
		
	
	Detailed birth statistics by age of mother are published annually on the ONS website (see Characteristics of Mother 1, table 3) at:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/characteristics-of-Mother-1--england-and-wales/index.html

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the process is for the merger of two or more clinical commissioning groups; what his role in that process is; what level of public consultation is required; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: NHS England is responsible for the establishment, authorisation and assurance of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). Under section 14G of National Health Service Act 2006 (as inserted by the Health and Social Care Act 2012), two or more CCGs may apply to NHS England for those groups to be dissolved and another CCG to be established. The National Health Service (Clinical Commissioning Groups) Regulations 2012 set out the factors which NHS England must consider when considering an application under this procedure. The regulations require that an application to merge should be considered with regard to the same factors that were used for establishment. These include:
	that the constitution meets the requirements of legislation and is otherwise appropriate;
	that each of the members is (or will be on the date of the establishment of the new CCG) a provider of primary medical services;
	that the area is appropriate (that is, that there are no overlapping CCGs and no gaps);
	that the proposed Accountable Officer is appropriate;
	that the CCG has made appropriate arrangements to ensure it is able to discharge its functions; and
	that it has made arrangements to ensure that its governing body is correctly constituted and otherwise appropriate.
	Further factors are set out in Schedule 1 to the regulations, and can be found at:
	www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1631/schedule/1/made
	Guidance on procedures for CCG constitution change, merger or dissolution was published in May 2013. The guidance sets out that NHS England will consider applications for CCG mergers once annually. Applications should come from all of the CCGs involved in the proposed merger, and should be submitted in writing to the relevant NHS England Regional Operations and Delivery Director for consideration by 1 June, to take effect from 1 April the following year.
	When considering applications, NHS England will consider the extent to which the CCG has sought the views of patients and the public; what these views are; and how the CCG has taken them into account.

Cystic Fibrosis

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the report by the Cystic Fibrosis Trust entitled Hope for More: improving access to lung transplantation and care for people with cystic fibrosis, published on 10 March 2014, what assessment he has made of that report's conclusions as to geographical variations in the availability of lung transplants and the effect of these on the survival prospects of people with cystic fibrosis.

Jane Ellison: The current lung allocation system, including those to cystic fibrosis patients, is monitored closely to ensure there is equity for patients across the United Kingdom. The most recent analysis showed no statistically significant differences in allocation across the UK lung transplant centres. NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) continues to consider practical steps within the current allocation system which could improve patient outcomes.
	Lung allocation policy is developed by the Cardiothoracic Organs Advisory Group. It is presently reviewing the current approach focusing on equity and better outcomes for patients. Any recommendations to change allocation policy will be considered by NHSBT, who will check to ensure that they meet the aims of the allocation system and that they have the support of transplant stakeholders before making any changes.

Food: Testing

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding (a) local authorities and (b) the Food Standards Agency had to carry out food sampling analyses in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: Sampling and surveillance are a priority for the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and play a key role of the framework of regulatory controls to ensure that food is safe for consumers and complies with United Kingdom and European Union law.
	Over the last five years the FSA has made additional funding available for local authorities to carry out food sampling as part of an annual national co-ordinated sampling programme (see the following table). This funding is over and above the funding allocated by local authorities themselves for analysis. This covers a wide range of issues including microbiological and chemical contaminants, misdescription and adulteration.
	
		
			  Amount (£) 
			 2009-10 900,000 
			 2010-11 900,000 
			 2011-12 1.6 million 
			 2012-13 1.6 million 
			 2013-14 2.2 million 
		
	
	The FSA has commissioned regular surveys of foods over the last five years to alert the FSA to potential food safety issues. These surveys can be found on the FSA website. The FSA also carries out a broad range of food sampling through its field officers, details of which are set out in the UK Multi Annual National Control Plan. The costs of these areas of sampling are not individually available, although specific sampling carried out on phenylbutazone in horse livers, following the horsemeat incidents, has cost the FSA £1,033,000 from January 2013 (when 100% testing started) to February 2014.
	The FSA also received from the EU Commission a total of £48,500 in 2013 to cover the cost of the UK sample analysis as part EU-wide survey sampling of a range of beef products for horse DNA and phenylbutazone.
	Local authorities receive funding through the Revenue Support Grant which they will use according to local priorities, including food sampling. Decisions on how to spend Revenue Support Grant funds are taken by individual local authorities. The FSA does not hold data on the financial allocation of funds for analysis by local authorities, only the volume and nature of the tests undertaken. Public Health England also provides an allocation to local authorities that funds the analysis of food safety (microbiological) testing.

Food: Testing

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 6 March 2014, Official Report, column 950W, on food: testing, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the decline in the number of food sampling tests being carried out over the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) advises that there has been a declining trend in recent years in sampling levels by local authorities. This reflects local authorities' need to prioritise their activities. There has also been greater emphasis on co-ordinated sampling programmes and using intelligence to ensure better targeting. The FSA and Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are helping with this approach, giving additional funding support for complex investigations, training and for prioritised sampling in areas of agreed national importance. To further support local authority sampling activity the FSA increased the additional funding it provides to £2.2 million for 2013-14.
	Consumer protection is the key priority for the FSA and local authorities. While it is for local authorities to decide on their priorities, the FSA monitors and audits local authority services to ensure appropriate resources are put into food safety and authenticity and intervenes with the local authority where this does not appear to be the case. Food enforcement data for all United Kingdom local authorities is published annually on the FSA website. Local authorities also oversee the testing of foods by businesses, which have a responsibility to ensure their products are compliant with legislation.

Funding: Primary Care Trusts

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how much funding Lewisham Primary Care Trust received in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012 and (e) 2013;
	(2)  how much funding the Heart of Birmingham Primary Care Trust received in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012 and (e) 2013;
	(3)  how much funding Sandwell Primary Care Trust received in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012 and (e) 2013;
	(4)  how much funding Dudley Primary Care Trust received in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012 and (e) 2013;
	(5)  how much funding Wolverhampton City Primary Care Trust received in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012 and (e) 2013;
	(6)  how much funding South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust received in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012 and (e) 2013.

Daniel Poulter: The Department set controls on primary care trust (PCT) resource spending. These controls were called Revenue Resource Limits and PCTs had a statutory duty to contain resource expenditure within approved revenue resource limits.
	The following table summarises the final Revenue Resource Limits for 2008-09 to 2012-13.
	
		
			 £000 
			 Organisation name 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Lewisham PCT 449,618 507,645 536,943 553,048 566,117 
			 Wolverhampton City PCT 409,362 454,101 470,652 474,905 493,823 
			 Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT 523,352 565,955 599,154 580,062 593,896 
			 Dudley PCT 449,568 493,418 508,010 517,185 537,477 
			 Sandwell PCT 508,482 557,432 593,716 591,062 618,739 
			 South Staffordshire PCT 800,082 888,829 947,855 970,588 1,008,020 
			 Source: Department of Health 
		
	
	These final limits include both recurrent and non-recurrent in-year adjustments. The non-recurrent adjustments can both increase revenue resource limits, via funding transfers from the Department's central budgets, and decrease revenue resource limits, via funding transfers between PCTs and other adjustments to reflect structural and policy changes. The recurrent element relates to PCT baseline funding and the following table summarises this recurrent element of the final Revenue Resource Limits.
	
		
			 £000 
			  2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Lewisham Primary Care Trust 453,100 484,939 509,873 512,150 527,394 
			 Heart of Birmingham Primary Care Trust 479,066 523,451 550,366 548,881 565,218 
			 Sandwell Primary Care Trust 487,172 523,488 552,279 551,021 567,422 
		
	
	
		
			 Dudley Primary Care Trust 429,270 461,918 487,324 489,089 503,647 
			 Wolverhampton City Primary Care Trust 380,355 408,545 431,015 429,887 442,682 
			 South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust 755,254 826,224 873,709 894,158 920,772 
			 Notes: 1. Allocations are not comparable between years due to changes in the responsibilities of PCTs. In 2009-10 additional responsibilities were devolved to PCTs along with the associated funding of £1.66 billion. At the start of 2011-12 responsibility for the social care of people with, learning disabilities and the associated funding of £1.29 billion was transferred from PCTs to local authorities. 2. The table shows recurrent allocations from the Department announced on 13 December 2007 for 2008-09 allocations, 6 December 2008 for 2009-10 and 2010-11 allocations, 15 December 2010 for 2011-12 allocations, and 14 December 2012 for 2012-13 allocations. 3. PCTs also received a number of small non-recurrent allocations, often during the financial year, for specifically identified purposes. These non-recurrent allocations are included within the final Revenue Resource Limit, a control set by the Department on former PCTs to contain resource expenditure within approved revenue resource limits. Source: Department of Health

Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what discussions his Department has had with (a) the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and (b) NHS England on the availability of funding for treatments for atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome since 1 April 2013;
	(2)  for what reasons the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is reviewing the availability of eculizumab for the treatment of atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the number of people (a) living with atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome (aHUS) and (b) who are diagnosed each year with aHUS.

Norman Lamb: We have had no such discussions.
	From April 2013 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has been responsible for the evaluation of selected highly specialised health technologies.
	In December 2012, Ministers accepted the advice of the Advisory Group for National Specialised Services on the clinical effectiveness of eculizumab (Soliris) for atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome (aHUS). It was felt, however, that further advice was needed on the overall cost implications, benefits and affordability of eculizumab. The Department therefore asked NICE to evaluate eculizumab for aHUS as the first topic to be considered through its highly specialised technologies programme.
	While NICE undertakes its evaluation, NHS England has developed an interim commissioning policy to enable patients with aHUS to receive eculizumab. The drug is currently commissioned by NHS England for:
	new patients with aHUS (defined to include those with a functioning kidney), and
	existing patients who are on dialysis and are suitable for a kidney transplant.
	As set out in NICE'S final scope for its evaluation, it is estimated that there are currently around 140 people with a diagnosis of aHUS in England, and at least 140 more who remain undiagnosed. Based on the worldwide incidence of aHUS, NICE estimates that around 20 new patients are diagnosed in England each year.

Health Education

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps are being taken through the Change4Life initiative to change long-term consumer food habits;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the promotion by Public Health England of ready meals, tinned vegetables and soft drinks as part of the Smart Swaps campaign and Change4Life initiative; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Change4Life is Public Health England's (PHE) flagship social marketing campaign and a key aspect of its obesity prevention work programme. Change4life encourages everyone in England to 'eat well, move more, live longer' with a specific focus on C2DE families with five to 11-year-old children.
	Launched in January 2014, Smart Swaps encouraged and supported families to make 'like for like' swaps to their everyday favourite foods and drinks in order to cut significant amounts of fat, sugar and calories from their diet. The swaps were chosen on the basis of a detailed nutritional analysis of children's diets, analysis of purchasing habits and consumer insight research. Families who signed up for the campaign received a campaign pack with healthier meal, snack and drink ideas, money-off healthier options, and a tailored programme of email and text tips, recipes and support to help them stick to their healthier new habits. The campaign was supported by a wide range of local authority, non-governmental organisations and commercial partners (who supplied offers in supermarkets across England on everything from fruit and vegetables to fresh lean meat).
	A full campaign evaluation is under way and detailed results will be published as part of the new PHE Change4life Marketing Strategy in spring 2014. Initial results are very promising, with hundreds of thousands of families signing up to make a swap.

Health Services

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps he has taken to ensure that people with (a) myalgic encephalomyelitis, (b) fibromyalgia and (c) dysphagia receive the treatment they need and help with the cost of treatment;
	(2)  what guidance his Department has issued on outstanding cases of maladministration surrounding the care of sufferers of myalgic encephalomyelitis, fibromyalgia and dysphagia.

Norman Lamb: Clinicians or clinical teams, supported by the latest available evidence and drawing on experience and judgment, are responsible for ensuring that the patients in their care get the treatment that is right for them.
	There is range of guidance on the NHS Clinical Evidence website to support clinicians in the management of patients who have either chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) fibromyalgia, or dysphagia. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has also produced a clinical guideline on CFS/ME that sets out best practice in the diagnosis, treatment care and support of this group of patients. However, there is no known pharmacological treatment or cure for either CFS/ME or fibromyalgia, and approaches to the management of patients with these conditions will vary, depending on the severity and type of symptoms. Regarding dysphagia this is usually a complication or symptom of another condition, rather than one that arises in isolation.
	In terms of help with the cost of treatment, an extensive range of exemptions, based on age, income and medical condition are already in place to support those who may struggle to pay for their prescriptions. Around 90% of prescription items are dispensed free of charge. Prescription Prepayment Certificates (PPCs) are also available for those who have to pay national health service prescription charges and need multiple prescriptions. This is the fifth year the annual certificate, and the third year the three-month certificate have been frozen. Both certificates will remain at £104 and £29.10 respectively this year and next. There is no limit to the number of items that can be obtained through a PPC. The annual certificate benefits anyone needing more than 12 items a year, and the three-month certificate anyone needing more than three items in that three-month period. Through the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme, those in receipt of qualifying benefits may also be eligible to claim assistance with travel to hospital or other NHS premises for NHS-funded treatment or diagnostic tests.
	Regarding guidance on outstanding cases of maladministration surrounding the care of patients with CFS/ME, fibromyalgia or dysphagia, if a patient, carer or representative has concerns about the NHS care that they have received, they should first raise the matter with either the NHS organisation concerned or the NHS body that commissioned that care. The NHS Constitution makes it clear that patients have the legal right to:
	make a complaint;
	have that complaint investigated; and
	be given a full and prompt reply.

Hospitals: Infectious Diseases

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will include e-coli and other gram negative infections in the health care-associated infections targets.

Daniel Poulter: While E. coli and other Gram-negative infections are a significant concern it is too early to comment on this proposal as we are awaiting expert advice on how to broaden our approach to indicators for health care associated infections. We expect to develop plans for implementation of the expert advice later this year.

Hospitals: Infectious Diseases

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital bed days were attributable to the effects of (a) all health care acquired infections, (b) MRSA and C.diff and (c) Carbapenem resistant organisms in each of the last five years.

Daniel Poulter: While Public Health England (PHE) does not measure the number of bed days attributable to the effects of each infection, as part of its mandatory surveillance programme, it does provide rates calculated per 100,000 bed days for specific infections.
	The data summarised in Table 1 and Table 2, taken from surveillance programmes, represent Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia and Clostridium difficile infection (C difficile) counts and rates (per 100,000 bed days) for Trust apportioned cases over the past five financial years (2008-09 to 2012-13) in England.
	In relation to carbapenem resistance, although positive samples are referred to the PHE Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infections (AMRHAI) Reference Unit on a voluntary basis for confirmation, PHE does not undertake mandatory surveillance of these organisms.
	The data summarised in Table 3 represents the number of samples confirmed as producing the enzyme 'carbapenemase' by the PHE AMRHAI Reference Unit over five calendar years to most recent publication (2008 to 2011). Carbapenemases are enzymes that destroy carbapenem antibiotics, resulting in resistance.
	Other than those discussed data on all healthcare-associated infections and the number of hospital bed days attributable to effects of healthcare-associated infections are not routinely collected by PHE.
	
		
			 Table 1: C difficile infection reports for patients aged 2 years and over: Trust apportioned cases and rates 
			 As at April to March Trust Apportioned1 C difficile reports C difficile rate per 100,000 bed-days 
			 2008-09 19,927 52.9 
			 2009-10 13,220 35.3 
			 2010-11 10,417 29.7 
			 2011-12 7,689 22.2 
			 2012-13 5,974 17.3 
			 1 Relates to the number of positive samples received by AMRHAI for confirmation, NOT unique patient samples. Data are available at: www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1233906819629 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: MRSA bacteraemia: Trust apportioned cases and rates 
			 As at April to March Trust apportioned1 MRSA bacteraemia reports MRSA bacteraemia rate per 100,000 bed days 
			 2008-09 1,606 4.3 
			 2009-10 1,004 2.7 
			 2010-11 688 2.0 
			 2011-12 473 1.4 
			 2012-13 398 1.2 
			 1 Relates to the number of positive samples received by AMRHAI for confirmation, NOT unique patient samples. Data are available at: www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1195733750761 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 3: Numbers of isolates1 of Enterobacteriaceae from UK laboratories confirmed by AMRHAI to have carbapenemases 
			  Numbers of isolates 
			 2008 22 
			 2009 73 
			 2010 339 
		
	
	
		
			 2011 632 
			 1 Relates to the number of positive samples received by AMRHAI for confirmation, NOT unique patient samples. 2 Data for 2011 are incomplete—these data reflect carbapenemase-producers confirmed up until March 2011. Full year data for 2011, 2012 and 2013 data are currently unpublished. Data is available at: www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/CarbapenemResistance/EpidemiologicalData/

Malnutrition

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evaluation his Department has made of the first wave of pilots launched by the Malnutrition Taskforce.

Jane Ellison: In 2013 the Department awarded £207,974 grant funding to Age UK to run stage 1 of a pilot programme to test a framework to reduce malnutrition among older people in a range of health and care settings.
	Under the terms and conditions of the Department's grant award, Age UK is required to complete and return a monitoring report for each year of the project. An evaluation report must be submitted at the end of the project. The plans for this will be made available in due course.
	The Department is currently considering Age UK's application for grant funding for stage 2 of the Malnutrition Taskforce pilot programme, which would run from April 2014 to March 2015.

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to ensure that patient data does not leave GP surgeries under care.data.

Daniel Poulter: On 18 February, NHS England announced that they will collect data from general practitioner (GP) surgeries in the autumn instead of April, to allow more time to build public awareness of the benefits of using the information, what safeguards are in place, how people can opt out if they choose, and look into further measures that could be taken to build public confidence.
	When a patient registers an objection to stop information about them leaving their GP practice for purposes beyond their direct care, a code will be applied to their medical record. This code or note will prevent the patient's confidential information from being used other than in exceptional circumstances required by law, such as a public health emergency.
	After listening to key stakeholders and discussions in Parliament, the Government have put in place a number of measures to help provide assurance to the public concerning the care.data programme. This includes a new measure to provide under statute for a requirement that a patient's opt out must be respected. This means that if a patient objects, then no identifiable data about them will flow to the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 13 March 2014, Official Report, column 355W, on medical records: databases, whether Atos has bid for the care.data extraction contract.

Daniel Poulter: There is no ‘care.data extraction contract’.

Medical Records: Databases

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the terms of the existing commercial reuse licences for Hospital Episode Statistics data provide licensees with rights to receive Care Episode Statistics data when they become available.

Daniel Poulter: The terms of the very limited number of existing commercial reuse licences for Hospital Episode Statistics only provide rights to those licensees to receive Hospital Episode Statistics. An organisation wishing to receive data under care.data (when they become available) would be required to complete a separate application process which would include demonstrating how the data would be used for health and care improvements.

NHS England

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what planned items of expenditure against NHS England's specialised services commissioning budget in 2013-14 have been (a) cancelled and (b) delayed in the 2013-14 financial year;
	(2)  what the (a) most recently reported and (b) planned deficit is in NHS England's specialised services commissioning budget.

Jane Ellison: NHS England advises that no planned items of expenditure against NHS England's specialised services commissioning budget in 2013-14 have been delayed or cancelled.
	NHS England advises that it is projecting an overspend on specialised services of £292 million for 2013-14; this represents 2.2% of the total value of the budget. NHS England has some immediate and some longer-term plans to address the overspend. For example, in the short-term, the 10 Area Teams with responsibility for commissioning specialised services are developing financial recovery plans. NHS England has established a Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group to assure the NHS England Board that these plans are robust and minimise the impact on patient care.
	In the longer term, NHS England is encouraging innovation through a number of avenues. An example of this is through the development of a procurement framework that will seek proposals from providers to deliver services in a more innovative way; through its Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention agenda; and through an invitation for stakeholders to submit 'A3' proposals, which use a 'lean' methodology to clearly and succinctly describe a change to a service, in line with the emerging Specialised Services Strategy.

NHS: Pay

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) clinical, (b) management and (c) clerical NHS staff in Essex were paid more than (i) £50,000, (ii) £65,738 and (iii) £100,000 in the last year for which figures are available.

Daniel Poulter: The following table shows the requested numbers of staff for the specified national health service organisations based in Essex. Some staff employed by these organisations might be based outside Essex-this cannot be identified from the data.
	
		
			 NHS hospital and community health service workforce provisional statistics: all professionally qualified clinical staff, managerial staff and administrative staff in NHS organisations in the Essex area with total earnings over specified amounts in the period December 2012 to November 2013 (headcount) 
			 Total earnings Professionally qualified clinical staff Managers and senior managers Administrative staff 
			 Over £50,000 1,951 475 20 
			 Of which:    
			 Over £65,738 1,341 212 7 
			 Of which:    
			 Over £100,000 669 57 * 
			 Notes: 1. The trusts included in these figures are: Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust North Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust NHS North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) NHS West Essex CCG NHS Mid Essex CCG NHS Castle Point and Rochford CCG NHS Southend CCG NHS Basildon and Brentwood CCG NHS Thurrock CCG 2. Total earnings per person are the amount paid to an individual in the specified 12-month period, regardless of the contracted full-time equivalent (FTE) amount. It includes all payments made to the individual, not just basic pay. 3. The most recently published earnings information available is for November 2013, therefore annual average estimates have been provided as at that month. 4. ‘Administrative staff’ includes those staff with occupation code G2A: Infrastructure Support-Central Functions and G2B: Infrastructure Support-Hotel, property and estates. 5. Figures in the table are provisional and experimental NHS staff earnings estimates, and represent those individuals who have met the publication validations. 6. These figures represent staff paid using the Electronic Staff Record system who are employed and directly paid by NHS organisations. 7. Figures are based on staff with contracted hours more than zero. Bank and locum staff who have no contracted hours are not included in these figures. 8. ‘*’ denotes where data is obscured as the group had less than five FTE staff, in line with the Data Protection Act. 9. Data quality: The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data, but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality. Where changes have an impact on figures already published, this is assessed, but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses. Source: HSCIC NHS Staff Earnings Estimates.

NHS: Pay

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) clinical, (b) managerial and (c) clerical NHS staff in (i) Enfield, (ii) London and (iii) Barnet and Chase Farm Hospital Trust were paid more than (A) £42,000, (B) £69,000 and (C) £100,000 in the last year for which figures are available.

Daniel Poulter: The information requested is not available. However, information on the salaries of national health service staff in London, Barnet and Chase Farm Hospital Trust and Enfield Clinical Commissioning Group is set out in the following tables.
	
		
			 NHS staff in post statistics and NHS staff earnings estimates, provisional, experimental statistics, NHS Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) workforce statistics, provisional statistics: all professionally qualified clinical staff, managerial staff and administrative staff in the London area with total earnings1 over specified amounts, November 20132 
			 Headcount of staff in each category 
			 Total earnings in the period, December 2012 to November 2013 
			  London area4 
			  Professionally qualified clinical staff Managers and senior managers Administrative staff3 
			 Over £42,000 33,189 4,989 1,254 
			 Of which:    
			 Over £69,000 8,697 1,465 37 
			 Of which:    
			 Over £100.000 3,730 350 * 
		
	
	
		
			 Headcount of staff in each category 
			 Total earnings in the period, December 2012 to November 2013 
			  Barnet and Chase Farm NHS Trust 
			  Professionally qualified clinical staff Managers and senior managers Administrative staff3 
			 Over £42,000 795 130 * 
			 Of which:    
			 Over £69,000 273 25 0 
			 Of which:    
			 Over £100.000 156 * 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Headcount of staff in each category 
			 Total earnings in the period, December 2012 to November 2013 
			  Enfield CCG 
			  Professionally qualified clinical staff Managers and senior managers Administrative staff3 
			 Over £42,000 0 10 0 
			 Of which:    
			 Over £69,000 0 * 0 
			 Of which:    
			 Over £100.000 0 0 0 
			 “*” Data is obscured as the group had less five or less full-time equivalent (FTE) staff, in line with the Data Protection Act. 1 Total earnings per person is the amount paid to an individual in the specified 12-month period, regardless of the contracted FTE. It includes all payments made to the individual, not just basic pay. 2 The most recently published earnings information available is for November 2013, therefore annual average estimates have been provided as at this month. 3 Includes those staff with occupation code G2A: Infrastructure Support—Central Functions and G2B: Infrastructure Support—Hotel, property and estates. 4 The trusts included in the London area include the following: Barking Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust Barts Health NHS Trust Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Croydon Health Services NHS Trust Ealing Hospital NHS Trust Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust North West London Hospitals NHS Trust Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust Barnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust East London NHS Foundation Trust North East London NHS Foundation Trust Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust West London Mental Health NHS Trust London Ambulance Trust 
		
	
	
		
			 NHS Barking and Dagenham CCG NHS Barnet CCG NHS Bexley CCG NHS Brent CCG NHS Bromley CCG NHS Camden CCG NHS Central London (Westminster) CCG NHS City and Hackney CCG NHS Croydon CCG NHS Ealing CCG NHS Enfield CCG NHS Greenwich CCG NHS Hammersmith and Fulham CCG NHS Haringey CCG NHS Harrow CCG NHS Havering CCG NHS Hillingdon CCG NHS Hounslow CCG NHS Islington CCG NHS Kingston CCG NHS Lambeth CCG NHS Lewisham CCG NHS Merton CCG NHS Newham CCG NHS Redbridge CCG NHS Richmond CCG NHS Southwark CCG NHS Sutton CCG NHS Tower Hamlets CCG NHS Waltham Forest CCG NHS Wandsworth CCG NHS West Essex CCG NHS West London (Kensington and Chelsea, Queen’s Park and Paddington) CCG Data Quality: The Health and Social Care Information Centre seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality where changes impact on figures already published. This is assessed, but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses. Notes: 1. Figures in the table are provisional and experimental NHS staff earnings estimates, therefore figures shown are those individuals that have met the publication validations. 2. These figures represent staff paid using the electronic staff record (ESR) system to NHS staff who are employed and directly paid by NHS organisations. 3. Figures are based on staff with contracted hours more than zero. Bank and locum staff that have no contracted hours are not included in these figures. Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre NHS Staff Earnings Estimates.

NHS: Procurement

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to extend freedom of information legislation to private companies bidding for NHS contracts in order to ensure appropriate openness and transparency.

Jane Ellison: The Government recognises the importance of maintaining transparency in relation to outsourced public services. The NHS Standard Contract already requires private providers to assist and co-operate with Commissioners to enable them to meet their obligations under the Freedom of Information Act (the Act).
	In the Government response to the Justice Select Committee's “Post-legislative scrutiny of the Freedom of Information Act 2000”, it was also made clear that guidance will be provided in a revised Code of Practice to be issued under section 45 of the Act. This will promote openness by all contractors providing public services, including through the use and enforcement of contractual transparency provisions to encourage still greater openness.
	The Code of Practice is due to be published in 2014. Upon its introduction, the Government will closely monitor the impact of the code and will review its success before considering whether further action is needed.
	Copies of the response to Post Legislative Scrutiny is available in the Library and at the following web address:
	www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/217298/gov-resp-justice-comm-foi-act.pdf

Nurseries

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department's executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Daniel Poulter: The Department does not have any workplace nurseries on its own premises. The Department's staff based in Quarry House, Leeds have access to a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) nursery which was operating in 2010 and 2013-14. This nursery provision is currently being reviewed and the Department has not yet been informed of any decision by DWP.
	The Department does not hold centrally the information requested in respect of its executive agencies and executive non-departmental public bodies. Information about workplace nurseries provided by these organisations is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of workplace nurseries available to staff 
			 Name of organisation 2010-11 2013-14 2014-15 
			 Public Health England 12 1 1 
			 Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency 0 0 0 
			 NHS England 0 0 0 
			 Monitor 0 0 0 
			 Care Quality Commission 0 0 0 
			 National Institute for Health and Care Excellence 0 0 0 
			 Health and Social Care Information Centre 0 0 0 
			 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority 0 0 0 
			 Human Tissue Authority 0 0 0 
			 1 The answer for the year 2010-11 relates to one of Public Health England's predecessor bodies, the Health Protection Agency, which had two onsite nurseries in 2010, in Porton (Wiltshire) and in Colindale (London). Health Protection Agency became part of Public Health England on 1 April 2013. The only onsite nursery operation for Public Health England staff is now in Porton.

Out of Area Treatment: Wales

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients who reside in Wales have been admitted to English hospitals for (a) cardio-vascular surgery and (b) maternity services in each of the last five years for which are figures are available.

Jane Ellison: Patients resident in Wales have been admitted to English hospitals in the following numbers during the period referred to:
	
		
			  Cardio-vascular surgery performed on the heart and great vessels Other cardiovascular surgery Maternity services 
			 2008-09 2,980 3,315 3,644 
			 2009-10 2,830 3,522 3,961 
			 2010-11 2,966 3,491 4,176 
			 2011-12 2,753 3,462 4,281 
			 2012-13 2,629 3,266 3,820

Pregnancy: Cholestasis

Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance is provided to (a) health professionals and (b) pregnant women on the symptoms of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP); and how ICP is diagnosed.

Daniel Poulter: The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) published comprehensive green top guidance for health professionals on the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP), which is also known as obstetric cholestasis, in 2011. In addition, the RCOG published information for pregnant women in 2012. Both documents are available on the RCOG’s website at:
	www.rcog.org.uk/womens-health/clinical-guidance/obstetric-cholestasis-green-top-43
	and
	www.rcog.org.uk/womens-health/clinical-guidance/obstetric-cholestasis-information-you
	respectively. Information on the symptoms and diagnosis of ICP is also available on the NHS Choices website at:
	www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/itching-obstetric-cholestasis-pregnant.aspx
	ICP is diagnosed by health professionals who will consider the woman’s medical and family history, and through the results of blood tests that check liver function.

Prisoners

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of (a) the lifespan and (b) health outcomes of prisoners and young offenders.

Norman Lamb: The information requested is not held centrally.

Radiotherapy

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were treated with the gamma knife at University College London hospitals between 1 April 2008 and 1 April 2013; from which NHS trusts they were referred; and how payment was made for their treatment.

Jane Ellison: Information regarding the number of patients who were treated with gamma knife stereotactic radiosurgery at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) NHS Trust and the NHS trusts from which they were referred between 1 April 2008 and 1 April 2013 cannot be provided in the format requested.
	From 29 October 2012 to 1 April 2013, 45 patients received treatment at the Gamma Knife Centre at Queens Square Radiosurgery Centre at UCLH. Payment was made by the then primary care trust responsible for commissioning these patients' care through individual funding requests.

Ritual Slaughter

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many reports of mis-cutting before each method of religiously exempted non-stunning he has received in each year since 2004, broken down by type of animal.

Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is unable to provide information on incidents of mis-cutting before each method of religiously exempted non-stunning. The FSA only holds details of when mis-cuts have occurred—not whether the associated slaughtering process was carried out using a stun or non-stun process.

Ritual Slaughter

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many reports of mis-stunning before slaughter for each method of stunning he has received in each year since 2004, broken down by type of animal.

Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is unable to provide information before 2008, nor to break down incidents reported according to the different methods of stunning. The FSA is able to report the number of mis-stunning incidents recorded from 2008 and these are detailed as follows by species:
	
		
			 Number of reports of mis-stunning identified during routine inspection of slaughtering in approved meat establishments for different types of animals 
			 Species 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 
			 Broilers 9 45 20 4 3 11 — 
			 Buffalo 1 — — — — — — 
			 Cattle 7 6 14 6 10 9 4 
			 Ducks — — 2 1 1 1 — 
			 Geese — — 1 — — — — 
			 Goats 1 — — — — — — 
			 Hens — 2 — — — — — 
			 Pigs 5 5 5 2 2 3 — 
			 Sheep 1 7 5 2 8 3 — 
			 Turkey — — — 5 3 1 — 
			 Notes: 1. Data for 2008 covers the period 27 March to 31 December 2014 only. 2. Data for 2014 covers 1 January 2014 to 28 February 2014 only.

Self-harm: Staffordshire

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many reported incidents of self-harm there were by people under the age of 18 years in South Staffordshire in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Norman Lamb: Information is not available in the format requested.
	Information on the number of finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a cause of self-harm and the number of accident and emergency (A&E) attendances with a patient group of deliberate self-harm for people under the age of 18, residing in the former South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) area in 2012-13 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 PCT name FAEs A&E attendances 
			 South Staffordshire PCT 192 208 
			 Notes: 1. A FAE is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period. 2. Cause code is a supplementary code that indicates the nature of any external cause of injury, poisoning or other adverse effects. Only the first external cause code which is coded within the episode is counted in Hospital Episode Statistics (HES). 3. A&E Attendance is a count of the number of attendances at A&E. This does not represent the number of patients as an individual may attend on more than one occasion in any given period. 4. Patient Group code indicates the reason for the A&E episode. Group 30 indicates those attending because of deliberate self-harm. 5. The PCT of residence (South Staffordshire) is the former PCT area containing the patient's normal home address. This does not necessarily reflect where the patient was treated as they may have travelled to another county for treatment. 6. It is possible that the same person may be counted as an FAE and an A&E Attendance if an attendance at A&E for injury due to self-harm has resulted in the patient being admitted to hospital as an in-patient for further treatment. Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre , Hospital Episode Statistics.

Sunbeds

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will bring forward legislative proposals to (a) require the supervision of sunbed use, (b) require the provision and display of prescribed health information on sunbed use, (c) prohibit the provision or display of all other health information on sunbed use and (d) require the provision and use of goggles in sunbed businesses in England;
	(2)  what his policy is on permitting all local authorities to license sunbed businesses;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the number of (a) licensed and (b) non-licensed sunbed businesses in England in each of the last five years;
	(4)  what steps his Department is taking to prevent children from using unsupervised sunbeds in England; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The licensing arrangements of sunbeds are a matter for local authorities. The Department is reviewing the regulation of sunbed use and is currently awaiting the outcome of a consultation by the all-party parliamentary group on skin.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Adult Education: East of England

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people in Harlow constituency were enrolled in adult skills training in each of the last 10 years; and what estimate he has made of the number of adults in (a) Harlow constituency, (b) Essex and (c) East Anglia who were unable to (i) read and (ii) write in that time period.

Matthew Hancock: Final data for the 2012/13 academic year show that there were 2,240 adult (19+) learners participating in further education and skills in Harlow parliamentary constituency. Information back to the 2005/06 academic year are available in a Supplementary table to a Statistical First Release:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284026/January2013_OverallFEandSkillsParticipation.xls
	The 2011 Skills for Life survey Small Area modelled estimates1 provide information on the proportion of adults aged 16-65 with above and below the 'functional literacy' threshold2. The data do not separate reading and writing.
	Table 1 shows estimates of the proportion of people with below Level 1 literacy for Harlow parliamentary constituency, the Kent Greater Essex and East Sussex Local Enterprise Partnership3 (based on an aggregation of local authority estimates) and the East of England Region4.
	
		
			 Table 1: Mean estimates of the proportion of people by geography breakdown with Below Level 1 Literacy, 2011 
			 Area Proportion of people with below Level 1 literacy (percentage) 
			 Harlow Constituency 16.5 
			 Kent, Greater Essex and East Sussex Local Enterprise Partnership 15.0 
			 East of England Region 11.7 
			 Source: 2011 Skills for Life survey small area estimates and survey. 
		
	
	Data for the East of England Region from the 2003 Skills for Life survey are given as follows. Comparable data are not available by parliamentary constituency or local enterprise partnership (which did not exist at that time).
	
		
			 Table 2: Mean estimates of the proportion of people by geography breakdown with Below Level 1 Literacy, 2003 
			 Area Proportion of people with below Level 1 literacy (percentage) 
			 East of England Region 12.0 
			 Source: 2003 Skills for Life survey5. 
		
	
	1 Available online at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/2011-skills-for-life-survey-small-area-estimation-data
	accessed on 18 March 2014.
	2 This is defined in the Leitch review as 'the level needed to get by in life and work (HM Treasury [December 2006] “Leitch Review of Skills. Prosperity for all in the global economy-world class skills. Final Report”, p. 43). Level 1 is equivalent to GCSE grades D-G. Adults with skills below Level 1 can read or write, but their skills may be limited, for example, they may not be able to read bus or train timetables.
	3 Gibson, A. and P. Hewson (2012) 2011 Skills for Life Survey: Small Area Estimation Technical Report, BIS research report 81C: available online at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/36077/12-1318-2011-skills-for-life-small-area-estimation-technical.pdf
	page 73
	4 The regional estimate is derived from the sample-based 2011 Skills for Life survey, rather than modelled estimates.
	5 Available at:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/RR490.pdf

Antibiotics

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many meetings his Department had with Department of Health colleagues to discuss antimicrobial resistance in each of the last 12 months.

David Willetts: This information is not held centrally and can be collected only at disproportionate cost.

Apprentices

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what timetable he has set for the production of an apprenticeship framework outlined in Annex A of the October 2013 report The Future of Apprenticeships in England: Guidance for Trailblazers.

Matthew Hancock: The Phase 1 Trailblazers announced in October 2013 have now produced their first apprenticeship standards. These are available at:
	www.apprenticeships.org.uk/standards
	We expect the first new apprenticeships will begin to be delivered in 2014/15.

Apprentices

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has received and approved any apprenticeship standards and assessment approaches as outlined in the timetable in the October 2013 report The Future of Apprenticeships in England: Guidance for Trailblazers.

Matthew Hancock: In March 2014, we agreed and published the first 11 apprenticeship standards developed by the Phase 1 Trailblazers. These are available at:
	www.apprenticeships.org.uk/standards

Arts: Training

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding his Department has allocated to support training and skills development for the creative industries in (a) London and (b) Greater Manchester in each year since 2010.

Matthew Hancock: Following reforms that have given college and skills providers the flexibility to respond to local skill needs, the Government do not allocate training funds to particular skill types. The funding for training and skills development for the creative industries taken from the Adult Skills Budget for the past two academic years for London, Greater Manchester and England is set out in the following table:
	
		
			 £ million 
			  2011/12 AY 2012/13 AY 
			 London 22.4 21.9 
			 Greater Manchester 4.2 4.4 
			 England total 91.2 89.6 
			 Notes: 1. Creative industries is defined as the arts, media and publishing sector subject area. 2. Spend is estimated based on data taken from the Individualised Learner Record (ILR). 3. Comparable funding data is not available for years prior to 2011/12.

Business: Brigg

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses were registered in Brigg and Goole constituency in each year since 1995-96.

Michael Fallon: Companies House is only able to provide figures on the number of new companies it registered in each of these years by postcode area. As postcode areas can cross constituency boundaries, the following figures must be considered approximations.
	
		
			  Number of companies registered 
			 1995/96 88 
			 1996/97 102 
		
	
	
		
			 1997/98 157 
			 1998/99 132 
			 1999/2000 165 
			 2000/01 185 
			 2001/02 171 
			 2002/03 336 
			 2003/04 334 
			 2004/05 269 
			 2005/06 309 
			 2006/07 378 
			 2007/08 334 
			 2008/09 339 
			 2009/10 349 
			 2010/11 425 
			 2011/12 460 
			 2012/13 480 
			 2013/14 435

Business: Young People

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many times he met representatives of Young Enterprise in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13.

Matthew Hancock: Details of Ministers' meetings with external organisations up to 30 September 2013 are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-business-innovation-skills&publication_type=transparency-data
	Information for October to December 2013 will be published in due course.

Comet Group

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much the Government has paid out to date in statutory redundancy and holiday entitlement liabilities arising from the collapse of Comet.

David Willetts: The Insolvency Service's Redundancy Payments Services have paid £12,767,464.67 in respect of statutory redundancy payments, and £356,014.88 in respect of holiday pay entitlements of former employees of Comet Group plc.

Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency, (b) Yorkshire and Humber and (c) England received Enterprise Finance Guarantee loans between (i) May 2011 and May 2012 and (ii) May 2012 and May 2013; and what the total value of such loans guaranteed was.

Matthew Hancock: Details are provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Between May 2011 and May 2012 Between May 2012 and May 2013 
			  Number of  Number of  
			 Area Loans Businesses Value of Loans Guaranteed (£) Loans Businesses Value of Loans Guaranteed (£) 
			 Brigg and Goole constituency 3 3 165,900 3 3 178,100 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 252 243 24,957,276 283 272 24,620,090 
			 England 2,610 2,501 262,373,463 2537 2,399 265,566,374 
			 All 2,939 2,816 299,878,565 2844 2,696 300,672,681

Exports: Commonwealth

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps UK Trade & Investment has taken to increase the number of businesses exporting to the Commonwealth; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) is represented in 22 Commonwealth countries; these include high growth markets such as India, Singapore, South Africa and Malaysia, and others such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where we already have significant and well established trading relations. In other Commonwealth countries, Heads of Mission and the FCO's Prosperity Teams provide on the ground support to help develop trading links to the UK.
	UKTI offers a broad range of support to help increase exports to these markets, including advice from International Trade Advisers in the English regions; bespoke advisory services from UKTI teams in British High Commissions; support for small and medium-sized companies to attend trade fairs; and high level support on winning business in high value opportunities in these markets. An important element of this support includes trade missions and other overseas visits, and since May 2013 visits by Ministers to Commonwealth markets have included high level visits to India, Canada, Malaysia, Tanzania, Australia, South Africa and Singapore.
	This year UKTI will also be hosting a range of business activities in conjunction with the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
	UKTI publishes business opportunities in overseas markets—including the Commonwealth nations—on its website:
	www.ukti.gov.uk/businessopportunities
	UKTI website users can set up alerts so that they are notified when opportunities are published in countries and sectors of interest to them.

Football: Insolvency

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will bring forward legislative proposals to abolish the Football League creditors' rule; and if he will make a statement.

Jennifer Willott: The Government have no plans to legislate specifically on the insolvency of football clubs.

Football: Insolvency

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the amount of revenue lost to HM Revenue and Customs as a result of the application of the Football League creditors' rule to clubs which have gone into administration in each of the last 10 years.

Jennifer Willott: The Department does not maintain central records of amounts owed to creditors of insolvent businesses in any industry, including football.

Higher Education

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what deregulatory measures his Department has introduced aimed at alternative learning providers since 2010.

David Willetts: We have strengthened the regulation of Alternative Providers. Alternative providers seeking 'specific course designation' for student support purposes are now required to meet rigorous new standards in relation to three key criteria: quality assurance; financial sustainability, management and governance. This is an important step-and one that delivers a universal quality regime for alternative providers. In addition we are introducing formal student number controls from the 2014/15 academic year.

Higher Education

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many for-profit alternative learning providers are educating students supported by his Department;
	(2)  how many (a) for profit and (b) not for-profit alternative learning providers are educating students supported by his Department.

David Willetts: In assessing students' eligibility for student loans, the Department does not distinguish between those alternative learning providers that operate on a commercial for-profit basis, and those that do not. The information requested is not available.

Higher Education

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the level of profits made by for-profit alternative learning providers running courses for students supported by his Department in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16.

David Willetts: The Department has not made an assessment of the level of profits made by for-profit alternative providers with courses of higher education that are designated for student support for any of the years stated.

Higher Education

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he plans to regulate the profitability of alternative learning providers educating students supported by his Department.

David Willetts: The Department has no plans to regulate the profitability of alternative providers with courses of higher education designated for student support.

National Apprenticeship Service

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the annual usage figures are for the National Apprenticeship Service online search function.

Matthew Hancock: The National Apprenticeship Service offers a free recruitment service via its online apprenticeship vacancies website and this is used by individuals to enable them to search and apply for apprenticeship vacancies and traineeship opportunities and by employers to enable them to advertise their vacancies and opportunities.
	For the period 1 August 2013 to 28 February 2014, there were 341,230 activated candidates on the Apprenticeship Vacancies system. Candidates made over one million applications. During the same period 85,020 apprenticeship vacancies and a further 2,970 traineeship opportunities were advertised through the Apprenticeship Vacancies system.
	Data on the number of candidates, applications and vacancies are published online:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships

National Apprenticeship Service

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many employers have accessed the National Apprenticeship Service online; and how many such employers have entered into contracts with training providers following use of the National Apprenticeship Service.

Matthew Hancock: Between the period 1 August 2013 and 28 February 2014 there have been 22,050 employers who have advertised vacancies through the apprenticeship vacancies online system. All employers who advertise their apprenticeship vacancies through the National Apprenticeship Service online recruitment service either have a contract directly with the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) or they are linked with a training provider who has a current SFA contract before a vacancy is advertised.

Nurseries

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department’s Executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Jennifer Willott: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) did not operate a workplace nursery in 2010 or in 2013-14. The Department has no plans to operate a workplace nursery in 2014-15.
	I have approached the chief executives of the Department’s Executive agencies (Insolvency Service, Companies House, National Measurement Office, Intellectual Property Office, UK Space Agency, Ordnance Survey, Met Office, Land Registry and the Skills Funding Agency) and they will respond to the hon. Member directly.
	Information for non-departmental public bodies is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Letter from Ann Lewis, dated 18 March 2014
	I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 17 March 2014, UIN 192437 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	Companies House does not have a workplace nursery available to staff.
	Letter from John Alty, dated 19 March 2014
	I am responding in respect of the Intellectual Property Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled 17th March 2014, to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	To as the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department’s executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15. (192437).
	The Intellectual Property Office is an executive agency of BIS. We do not offer a workplace nursery but we share a site with Office of National Statistics and are entitled to 5% of their on-site nursery places, equating to 1.75 full time places.
	Letter from Richard Judge, dated 19 March 2014:
	The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has asked me to reply to your question what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department’s executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.
	My response relates to the Insolvency Service, an Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The Insolvency Service does not have any workplace nurseries available to employees. You may find it helpful to know, however, that we do offer employees the option of purchasing childcare vouchers, which enables parents to off-set some of the costs of childcare provision.
	Letter from Vanessa Lawrence, dated 19 March 2014
	As Director General and Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey, I have been asked to respond to your Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department’s executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.
	(i) In 2010 one workplace nursery was available to Ordnance Survey staff.
	(ii) In 2013-14 one workplace nursery was available to Ordnance Survey staff.
	(iii) In 2014-15 one workplace nursery will be available to Ordnance Survey staff.
	Should you have any further questions, please let me know.
	I hope this information is helpful.
	Letter from Peter Mason, dated 19 March 2014
	I am responding in respect of the National Measurement Office (NMO), an Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 17 March 2014, asking for estimates of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in the Department and its executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.
	NMO is located on the Teddington Estate alongside the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and there is a nursery located on the estate which is available to NMO staff, as well as to those of NPL and LGC Ltd which occupies an adjacent site. Under the arrangements which the nursery operates, there is not a specific allocation made for the children of NMO staff and the Agency does not have firm details of the number of staff who use this facility, although we are aware of a number who do. These arrangements have operated for many years and we do not believe that there has been a significant change in the levels of availability since 2010.
	Letter from David Parker
	Thank you for your question addressed to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, to ask what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department’s executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.
	The UK Space Agency is an Executive Agency of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and it has not made any estimate of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.
	Letter from Ed Lester, dated 19 March 2014
	I write on behalf of Land Registry in response to your parliamentary question numbered 192437 tabled on 17 March 2014 which asked the following:
	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department’s executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.
	In 2010 Land Registry had eight on-site nurseries. Following a procurement exercise, from 01 September 2011 six of the sites were leased from Land Registry by Busy Bees who run their own business from the sites. The remaining two sites closed. Therefore, in 2013-14 and 2014-15, Land Registry did not run any on-site nurseries.
	I hope that you find this information useful.
	Letter from Barbara Spicer, dated 19 March 2014
	Thank you for your question asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department’s executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15. (192437)
	Please be advised that the Skills Funding Agency does not have any workplace nurseries available to its staff.
	I hope this satisfactorily addresses your question. If you have any follow up queries, please let me know.
	Letter from John Hirst, dated 19 March 2014
	I am replying on behalf of the Met Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 17 March 2014, UIN 192437 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The Met Office does not provide a workplace nursery for staff. However, the Met Office operates a childcare voucher scheme to help working parents with their childcare costs. Eligible parents and guardians can choose to receive childcare vouchers, instead of part of their cash salary, to pay for registered or approved childcare and to make savings on tax and national insurance contributions depending on individual circumstances.
	I hope this helps.

Post Office Card Account

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the future viability of the Post Office Card Account; and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on that issue.

Jennifer Willott: As I set out in my answer to the previous two questions on this topic, the Post Office Ltd has a contract with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to provide the Post Office card account (POCA). The current arrangements for collecting pensions and benefits at post offices will remain in place until at least 2015. Any decision about the future of POCA arrangements and related commercial negotiations are a matter for DWP but I can confirm that DWP and the Post Office are in discussions about the future of POCA and that all options under consideration conclude that access to pensions and benefits will continue beyond March 2015.

Postal Services

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the potential effects on the universal postal service of TNT extending end-to-end services.

Jennifer Willott: It is Ofcom's responsibility as the independent regulator for postal services in the UK to monitor any impacts of market competition on the provision of the universal service in the UK. Parliament has given Ofcom the powers to intervene if the provision of the universal service is ever at serious risk from the effects of postal competition.
	Ofcom has an effective and ongoing monitoring regime to track the financial sustainability of the universal postal service. In March 2013 Ofcom published guidance on its approach to assessing the impact of end-to-end competition in the postal sector.
	Ofcom's “Annual monitoring update on the postal market-FY2012-13”, published in November 2013, found that although there was a significant increase in end-to-end letter volumes delivered by other operators due to the trial of London delivery operations by TNT Post UK, end-to-end competition still only accounts for less than one percent of total market volumes. In this report Ofcom considered
	"it is not necessary to impose any additional regulatory conditions on end-to-end operators to secure the ongoing provision of a universal postal service at this point in time".
	If Ofcom's ongoing monitoring regime does not prompt the need for any earlier assessment, it will carry out a full review of the impact of market competition towards the end of 2015 as a matter of course. This will ensure that the regulator has made a detailed assessment of the actual and potential impact of emerging end-to-end competition based on a better understanding of how the postal market is developing. More information about Ofcom's regulatory regime can be found on its website
	www.ofcom.org.uk

Postal Services

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the extent to which the general public value the universal postal service;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the extent to which small businesses are reliant on the universal postal service.

Jennifer Willott: Under the Postal Services Act 2011, Parliament transferred regulatory authority from Postcomm to Ofcom, as an independent regulator for postal services, with the primary duty to secure the provision of the universal service in the UK. As part of its regulatory role, Ofcom monitors market developments and the evolving needs of postal users in the UK.
	Following a review of postal user needs in March 2013, Ofcom concluded that the universal postal service is currently meeting the reasonable needs of users and is highly valued by residential users and businesses across the UK.
	Its research also indicated that while users are generally satisfied with current postal services, different users rely on post to varying degrees and needs and preferences are evolving. More about Ofcom's findings can be found on its website
	http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/review-of-user-needs/statement/statement1.pdf

Postal Services

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions on universal service provision he has held with (a) the Chief Executive of TNT Post UK and (b) other postal operations.

Jennifer Willott: Ministers and officials in the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills meet with representatives from TNT and other postal operators on an intermittent basis to discuss a wide range of postal issues, including market developments and the universal service.

Social Mobility and Pay

Michael Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to (a) increase social mobility and (b) prevent unpaid internships; and what sanctions are in place for employers who breach minimum wage legislation.

David Willetts: This Department plays an important role in delivering the Government's Social Mobility Strategy, through our policies on vocational and higher education and the labour market, and through our work with businesses.
	We are implementing the Inspiration Vision, which sets out how employers, schools and colleges will work together to inspire young people about work, and bringing these interests together with the National Careers Service.
	We are raising the status of the further education profession, including introducing Chartered Status for high-performing colleges.
	We are reforming apprenticeships to make them more rigorous and responsive to employers, which will ensure each apprenticeship has value to individuals as they progress in their career. The changes we have made to higher apprenticeships provide a clear work-based progression pathway into higher education and professional careers.
	We are delivering the Traineeships programme, which is aimed at giving young people the skills and experience they need to be able to compete for apprenticeships and other jobs.
	Further education and skills also provide second chances to educationally disadvantaged adults, allowing them to improve their employment and earnings prospects through their life course; and improve their capacity and capability to improve the educational outcomes of their children.
	The Chancellor's autumn statement of 5 December 2013, Official Report, columns 1101-1113, announced that for 2014/15 we will make an additional 30,000 places available at publicly funded higher education institutions, and remove student number controls from 2015/16.
	We have established a new framework with increased responsibility placed on universities to widen access. As part of this the independent Office for Fair Access (OFFA) agreed 162 Access Agreements for 2014/15, with plans for universities to spend more than £680 million on outreach and other activities to widen access, rising to over £700 million by 2017/18.
	We asked the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE) and OFFA to develop a shared strategy for promoting access which maximises the impact of all the spending by Government, HEFCE and institutions. An interim report was published in March 2013, and we intend to publish the full report shortly.
	The Social Mobility Business Compact ensures young people have fair and open access to employment opportunities. It commits its signatories to support communities and schools, provide opportunities for all, and recruit openly and fairly.
	The Department funds the Graduate Talent Pool, which provides information and advice on all aspects of internships, and includes a quality assurance process for vacancies. It has encouraged employers to offer graduate internships, and of ensuring that those internship vacancies are available to the widest possible audience of new graduates.
	The Government are committed to making sure that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) receives it. People who feel they have not been paid what they are entitled to should call the free and confidential Pay and Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368.
	The Government are taking a tougher approach to NMW enforcement across the board.
	On 28 February 2014 the Government named the first five employers under the revised Naming and Shaming scheme. Between them they owe workers a total of over £6,800 in arrears and have been charged financial penalties totalling £3,381.40.
	The Government have also increased the financial penalty percentage that employers pay for breaking minimum wage law from 50% to 100% of the unpaid wages owed to workers and the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000.
	On interns, the Government have been raising awareness among young people of interns' rights and responsibilities to the National Minimum Wage, directing them to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline for further information and to make a complaint. HM Revenue and Customs investigate every complaint made to the Pay and Work Rights helpline and calls from interns are prioritised for consideration. Youth-focused channels such as 4Talent and Facebook have been used to target young people interested in entering sectors where internships are prevalent. To date, over 130,000 young people have been reached this way.
	Intern-focused enforcement action resulted in a major fashion chain being ordered to pay 90 unpaid interns almost £60,000 in 2012/13.
	In November last year, HMRC sent out education letters to 200 employers known to have recently advertised intern opportunities and unpaid work. The 200 letters will be followed up with a programme of targeted, risk-based investigations.

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy, how many finance guarantees for offshore wind supply chain infrastructure projects have been granted through the UK Guarantees Scheme.

Danny Alexander: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Treasury.
	No guarantees have been issued to offshore wind supply chain infrastructure projects.

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy, what (a) activity and (b) investment has been made in the offshore wind industry through the new Business Bank; and if he will make a statement.

Matthew Hancock: The Green Investment Bank has a remit to support infrastructure projects across a range of green sectors, including offshore wind which is a priority for the Bank. To date GIB has committed a total of £162 million of finance to three offshore wind projects and expects to make further commitments in this sector in due course.
	The British Business Bank's focus is small businesses. Although some of its programmes (such as the Enterprise Capital Funds and Investment programme) have funds which can support a range of investments in most sectors, there have so far been no investments in companies directly within the offshore wind industry.